Perfect in Every Way
by RandomVictorian
Summary: Another attempt to write something fluffy; we'll see if I succeed. Just an unconnected collection of Whouffle stories about the Doctor and Clara's travels. Feel free to skip around. Rated T for safety but I always err on the side of paranoia so there won't be anything too shocking. I love getting prompts! (Disclaimer: Regrettably, I do not own Doctor Who.)
1. Feathers

**Hello everyone! If you have read my stories in the past, you'll know that I've always really wanted to write fluffy cuteness, and things never go that way. So I'm trying yet again with a collection of unconnected little whouffle stories. Hope you enjoy! **

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Clara thought that the TARDIS sound was part of her dream at first, and ignored it, fighting to stay asleep. She rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face in her pillow, irritated that she had woken up and trying to go back to sleep.

Suddenly, there was a hand shaking her by the shoulder and the Doctor's voice saying 'Come along Clara! Time to wake up! I have something wonderful to show you!'

She gasped and quickly sat up, pulling her blankets around herself. 'Why are you in my bedroom?' she hissed.

'Oh, yes, um...coordinates a bit off. Sorry.'

'Doctor, it's five in the morning!' Clara hissed. 'You'll wake the Maitlands, and what would they think to see you and your snog-box in my bedroom?'

'It is not a... Is it really five in the morning?'

She nodded.

He glanced at the clock and the darkened world outside the window. 'So it is! Not the coordinates _and _the timing! I'm afraid I'm getting too old to drive. Oh well. You'll just have to come with me now. I've found something really amazing I want you to see!'

'I'm sleeping!'

He studied her for a moment. 'No you aren't. You're awake.'

'I mean, I _was_ sleeping. And I intend to continue. I'm exhausted!'

'Clara, you and the TARDIS have always had a bit of a rough relationship. If I leave you now, who knows when she'll land again! What if I accidentally landed years from now?'

Clara thought about that for a moment. 'Fine.'

He excitedly ran towards the TARDIS, stopping in the door to look back. Clara stretched lazily, struggling to keep her eyes open. Once the adrenaline of her initial startlement had worn off, she wasn't sure she could stay awake. The Doctor walked back over and grabbed her hand, excitedly tugging. 'Come on Clara! Now!'

'For a man with a time machine, you sure are impatient,' she grumbled. 'Go wait in the TARDIS. I need to get some decent clothes on first.'

He went grudgingly into the TARDIS, turning around before closing the door to say, 'Five minutes.'

'Okay. Five minutes.' She waved goodbye and he closed the door.

Smiling despite her sleepiness, she wandered over to her closet and stared at her dresses, too tired even to make a decision on what to wear. Finally, she decided to just pull on a pair of sweatpants with the giant t-shirt she was already wearing. She threw a big jumper on over that and sleepily stumbled into the TARDIS. Yawning, she leaned against the railing. The Doctor's back was towards her and he was fiddling with the controls. When he noticed that she had entered, he spun around.

'You look different.'

'Probably the clothes and the fact that I didn't brush my hair,' she said, yawning.

'Well, yes, I suppose so. You look tired, too.'

'Well what do you expect? It's five in the morning!'

'You lot. Always sleeping.' He shook his head. 'Don't worry, this is going to be a relaxing adventure.' He ran over to the console and started twirling about and flipping switches, pushing buttons, and pulling levers.

'A relaxing adventure? Is that even a thing?'

'It is where we are going!'

'And where is that?'

'A surprise.' The TARDIS landed and he took her hand. 'Close your eyes,' he said softly. She did. He gently guided her, one hand holding hers and one on the small of her back. Her heart beat fast with anticipation, as it always did when the Doctor had something to show her. 'Open your eyes,' he said, his mouth right up next to her ear so that his breath tickled her skin. Slowly, she opened her eyes, gasping in delight.

They were in a forest, but it was completely white. 'It's snow,' she said. Then, quickly correcting herself, 'No it isn't. It's not cold.'

'Exactly! Here, look at this!' He reached up to a dangly branch and plucked one of the leaves off, handing it to Clara. She took it, and realised that it wasn't a leaf at all, it was a feather. The trees were covered in white feathers.

'It's a feather,' was all she could manage to say.

'No. Well sort of. I mean, they aren't technically feathers, but they are almost the same thing.'

'This is so beautiful. Thank you.'

'Wait! There's more!'

He led her through the trees, which gradually started to thin, opening up on an enormous expanse of meadow. Instead of grass, it grew with the same white feathery leaves that were on the trees. He motioned for Clara to sit, and she did, gazing up at the beautiful night sky. The stars were very bright, and their light reflecting off of the whiteness that covered all made it almost as bright as day. He sat down next to her.

'It's amazing,' she murmured, laying down in the softness of the feathers and gazing at the starry sky.

'You haven't seen anything. Just wait a few minutes.'

She was excited to see what else this planet could possibly offer, but she also wouldn't mind if things stayed exactly how they were. She felt very content and safe. He hadn't been lying when he promised a relaxing adventure.

The Doctor leaned back, propped up beside her on his elbows. He pointed to the edge of the sky. 'See how it's starting to turn red?'

She nodded.

'Now watch. Don't blink or you might miss it.'

She watched as the red slowly crept over the inky blue and the stars disappeared. In a sudden flash, the red blazed up and consumed the remaining blue in one brilliant moment. Clara let out a shaky breath as she stared at the suddenly red sky. That had to have been one of the most beautiful things she had ever watched.

The Doctor started to prattle on about the planet's unique atmosphere, and Clara was having trouble following what he was saying. She was too busy watching the beauty around them. And suddenly, she noticed that he wasn't even talking anymore. She glanced up to see him watching her with a little smile dancing around his lips.

'What's that face for?'

'Have I ever told you how pretty you are?'

She laughed softly, unsure how to respond. This was the Doctor, after all. She'd witnessed him call evil alien technology beautiful. He didn't necessarily mean...

But he was still gazing at her, his smile widening. 'Clara?'

'Yes?'

'Would you mind...if I kissed you?'

She sucked in a breath of air, a little too sharply.

'Sorry, never mind.' Obviously, he misinterpreted her shock.

'No, Doctor, I was just...I'd like that.'

He leaned in slowly, searching her eyes, as if afraid she might change her mind. She had never met anyone who treated her this carefully, respectfully. When he kissed her, it was a sweet, loving kiss. He broke away, smiling broadly. 'Oh, Clara Oswald. You are more beautiful than this planet or any other.'

She smiled back, knowing that he intended it as a compliment. They stayed there for about half an hour longer, Enjoying each other's company without saying much. Then he took her back home, managing to get her there a few minutes after they left.

'There now,' he said. 'You can go back to sleep now. And I'll see you next Wednesday.'

'No, you are going to come back at your normal time.'

'What?'

'Wednesday is still our day. This was just...extra.'

He smiled. 'Back in a tick! Or for you, a few hours.'

She smiled as the TARDIS dematerialised. She couldn't sleep, and just laid there staring at the ceiling, reliving that last adventure over and over. She couldn't wait for him to come back.

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**Yelch! No wonder I can't ever manage to write fluffiness, I'm terrible at it! Well anyway, reviews? How terrible was this on a scale of one to ten, ten being "woohoo", and one being "AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"?**


	2. Fish Fingers and Comfort

**You guys were so nice in your reviews! I'm already back for more! This is fun! I'm really scared though that the evil within me is going to break lose soon and do something to ruin the fluff. Please send me prompts to avoid this! Otherwise I might get bored and kill them off. You can take that as a threat if you want. :) **

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Clara was having a very emotional day. It was her time of month, so she was already prepared to hate the world the moment she woke up. Angie had made it worse over breakfast with her constant bratty comments, and Clara had lost patience with her. An ugly argument ensued, Angie left for school hating her, and Clara had taken out her frustration on Artie, so he too had left for school in a bad mood. She thought baking souffles would cheer herself up, but after two failed attempts, she was thinking it had been a bad idea. Telling herself that the third time was the charm, she had attempted another, which had turned out anything but charming.

She left it on the counter, too angry and exhausted even to throw it away. She decided to curl up with a cup of tea and a heating pad. She put the kettle on and placed the heating pad in the microwave. Then, leaning against the counter, she tried her best to cheer up.

And then she heard an explosion in the microwave. Somehow, she had put the heating pad in for too long and it exploded. She stared uncomprehendingly for a few minutes, then slowly shut the microwave door. She would deal with it later. She took a deep breath, poured herself a cup of the strongest tea she could find, and went into the lounge, plopping onto the sofa to feel sorry for herself until the kids came home.

And then she heard the TARDIS noise and remembered that it was Wednesday. There was no way the Doctor was going to see her in the state she was in. She crept over to the window and closed the curtains while the TARDIS doors were still closed. Then she curled up on the sofa again and waited for him to leave.

He knocked on the door, and she kept still. He knocked again, louder. He rang the doorbell. He rang it again. And then he started madly ringing and banging on the door the way he had the day they first met. Clara stifled a giggle. He would give up soon, she hoped. And then she heard the front door open.

'Clara!' he shouted.

She sighed. Sonic Screwdriver. 'I'm in the lounge.' She made a vain attempt to smooth her hair, and glanced down with regret at her frumpy clothes and the stained pinny which she had forgotten to remove from baking.

The Doctor rushed into the room, pointing his sonic screwdriver around. 'What happened? Why didn't you answer the door? What's going on?'

'You can put that away. There's no aliens or monsters lurking about, I promise.'

'Why wouldn't you answer then? I thought something terrible had happened to you!' He seemed to really notice her for the first time, how dishevelled and forlorn she was. He sat down on the sofa next to her. 'Are you not feeling well?'

'No!' She started telling him all the details of her terrible day (leaving out, of course, the fact that it was her time of month). He listened kindly, and when she had done, he gave her a big, warm hug. Then he stood up. 'No adventures today. Just making you feel better. We'll start with that kitchen.'

Clara got up to follow him, but he gently pushed her back down on the sofa. 'You sit right here and rest.' He spun around in the centre of the room, eyes searching for something, landing on a blanket draped over the back of a chair. He took the blanket and wrapped it around Clara.

'You're treating me like a child!'

'That's how people should be treated when they aren't feeling well. Now just rest, I'll go see to the kitchen.'

She smiled, picking up a book that she had started earlier that day and starting to read it. She heard an exclamation of some sort from the kitchen, and the Doctor came back holding the souffle dish.

'Was this supposed to be a souffle?'

'Yes,' Clara said, getting a little bit huffy.

He smacked himself on the forehead. 'Of course it was! Oh, and doesn't it just look delicious! Sorry about that.'

She knew he was trying to make her feel better. 'No, it came out wrong. I was just too frustrated to throw it out. You can put it straight into the bin. Maybe the souffle dish too, I might be done with those things.'

'No, of course not! Well I mean, yes, this is going straight into the bin, but as for the souffle dish, you are going to need it. You're souffle girl!'

She smiled as he disappeared back into the kitchen. He didn't reappear for a very long time, and Clara began to get a little bit worried. But then she smelled something. It smelled almost like fish. Fish fingers. She shrugged. He must have gotten hungry and found them in the freezer. She went back to reading.

He came into the room with a tray. 'I cleaned the microwave, got rid of the souffle, tidied things up, and I brought you some things.' He set the tray down. 'First, some aspirin. You look like you're in pain.'

She hadn't taken any that day because she hated taking medicine. So she took it now. She wondered how he knew she was hurting. She certainly hadn't mentioned her cramps.

'And I found another heating pad. I assumed you wanted one because of what happened with the microwave.'

'I was looking everywhere for this! I knew we had more than one!' She took it from him and laid it on her stomach. 'Much better, thank you.'

'And I made you some more tea. Tea is always good.'

She smiled and wrapped her hands around the mug he handed her, taking a sip of the steaming hot liquid and enjoying the way the warmth trickled down her throat.

'And then the best part! Fish fingers and custard!'

'Wait...fish fingers and custard? Together?'

'Oh trust me it's wonderful.'

She crinkled her nose. 'No thanks.'

He picked up a fish finger, dipped it into the bowl of custard, and held it towards her mouth. 'Just one taste. You'll love it.'

'Why?'

'Because it's amazing! And because you want to.'

'I think we need to go down the list of what I want, because you seem to have it a bit wrong.'

'Come on, Clara. Just one tiny taste.'

'Fine.' She opened her mouth and he shoved the whole thing inside. It was a bit more than a tiny taste, but as she chewed it, her eyes widened.

'What do you think?'

She nodded, her mouth very full, and gave him a thumbs up.

He beamed with pleasure, and between the two of them they ate all of it in a very short time.

'So, what would you like to do now, Clara?'

'I dunno. Aren't you bored yet? You don't usually do this sitting around stuff.'

'For you, Clara Oswald, I would do absolutely anything.'

She wasn't quite sure if he meant that or not, but she decided to test him. So they spent the day watching silly things on the telly that neither of them really liked, making sarcastic little commentaries that made them laugh. Then he read aloud to her from various books, doing all the voices and even acting some parts out. She laughed until it hurt. When they were both exhausted from laughing and being silly, he went to the kitchen and came back with a tub of ice cream and two spoons.

'You and I, Clara Oswald, are going to eat this whole thing and we won't save any for anyone else.'

'I love your ideas, Doctor.'

He plopped down very close to her on the sofa and solemnly handed her a spoon. Taking the lid off, they started to eat. He laughed at her.

'What?'

'You've got some ice cream on your nose.'

She reached up to get it, but before she could do so he had already gotten it off for her. With his tongue. Like a dog.

'Well...that's certainly one way of doing it,' she said, wiping her nose off with her sleeve and trying not to think about the fact that it had Doctor saliva all over it.

'We can't waste good ice cream, now can we?'

The Doctor's ice cream eating seemed to get dramatically messier after that incident, and he ended up with ice cream smeared all around his mouth. And Clara got a very funny feeling that it looked purposefully done. She went along with it, though.

'Doctor, you have ice cream all over your mouth.'

'Well, I wonder what is to be done about that?'

'I really should take you to the sink and scrub your face with a bar of soap like the child you are.'

'But that would be a complete waste of good ice cream.'

'That's true.' Clara moved her upturned face a little closer to his. 'And we wouldn't want that.'

'I really think there is only one thing to do, in that case.'

They kissed.

Clara frowned. 'Now _my_ mouth is all covered in ice cream.'

'Obviously it didn't work, then. We'll have to try again.'

But then the doorbell rang and she groaned. 'That will be Angie. She must have forgot her key again.' Clara was very thankful for that. She wouldn't have wanted Angie to have walked in and seen them kissing on the sofa. After she always did her best to explain that the Doctor was just a good friend.

'I should probably get going, then.'

'Thanks for a wonderful day. You were just what I needed.'

'Don't mention it! It's nice to have these kind of days sometimes. They are pretty rare when you're me.'

'See you next Wednesday!'

'I just might skip straight to then.'

'Don't you dare, you know I hate it when you do that! It isn't fair!'

'What if you didn't know?'

'I can always tell!'

Sure enough, when the next Wednesday rolled around, the Doctor still had traces of ice cream on his face...

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**Ugh. I don't know how I feel about this, so I'll let you guys tell me what you think. Please send me prompts! I would really very much love that!**


	3. Honeymoon

**Thanks for all the reviews! Ach, this fluff, I'm starting to feel like I gorged on candy floss. I don't know how much longer I can do this before I do something terrible to one or both of them. But we'll see what happens! **

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'Hello Clara!' the Doctor said, turning from the console as she entered the TARDIS. 'Am I on time today?'

'Only five minutes late.'

'I'm getting better then! Oh, by the way, we're going to be married.'

'That's, uh, very nice Doctor but don't you think you're rushing things just a bit?'

'What? No! We're pretending to be married. Like when we went to Sweetville.'

'Oh, that's better,' Clara said. She didn't understand why she felt a tiny stab of disappointment. It wasn't as though she would go and marry the Doctor right now - they hadn't even known each other for very long. And, well, he _was_ an alien. Still, she couldn't help but feel that it would be sweet to think he wanted to be married, even if she would have to refuse.

'Yes. Yes I suppose it is.'

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. 'You _suppose_?'

'I mean, no I'm certain! I wouldn't want to marry you, not ever. Not that you wouldn't be nice to be married to, I mean you're pretty and clever and...I mean...'

She laughed and tapped him on the chin. 'It's okay. I understand, I do.'

'Good. Yes. Well, I think we'd better go then.'

'So where are we going that we have to be married?'

'It's a honeymoon spot.'

She raised an eyebrow again. 'You're taking me...to a honeymoon spot?'

'Not for recreational purposes. I think there is something funny going on there. I got a distress signal.'

'Okay, so, not that I mind but why do we have to be married?'

'Because we'll blend in better. People won't be suspicious of us because we'll be honeymooners like everyone else.'

'Makes sense.'

He started his absurd dance around the console that happened every time he flew the TARDIS. 'Ready?' he asked, when they had landed.

'I need a ring,' she pointed out.

'You have loads of rings! All over your fingers, look!' He took both of her hands and held them up towards her face.

She smiled and pushed him away. 'Not a proper wedding ring!'

He sighed dramatically.

'Look, if we're going to do this, we may as well do it right,' she insisted.

'All right, all right.' He turned to the console and started fiddling around. She stepped closer, so that she was next to him, leaning against it and watching.

'What are you doing?'

'Making a ring.'

'You can do that? I mean, you can just punch in some buttons and out pops a wedding ring?'

'The TARDIS is infinite, Clara. There is very little she can't do. Here, you're going to have to make some decisions.' He pointed at the screen. Almost any style of ring you could think of was displayed on it. Clara's mouth dropped open.

'Hang on. You mean I can choose from any of them?'

'Yes, it's quite cool, isn't it? Do try to hurry though.'

Just for that, she was going to take her time. She studied each different design, and they all started to look the same, and pretty soon she couldn't even think of making a decision.

'I dunno. Surprise me.'

He picked a pretty white-gold one. The centre diamond was in the shape of a star. 'I think that's an appropriate ring for a woman who travels the stars with her husband, don't you?'

'It's...beautiful.' She held out her hand and he slipped it onto her finger. She laughed. 'We're treating this like it's real.'

'It has to be convincing, eh? Now come with me, love. It's time for our honeymoon.' He flung an arm around her shoulders and they walked out of the TARDIS, grinning at each other and talking and laughing. They didn't even really have to play-act about being newly-weds, Clara realised; they looked the part already.

The planet was beautiful. The sky was silver with clouds of a glittering gold colour. Fountains splashed everywhere, and the whole place was full of people in love.

'I wouldn't mind being here just for fun,' Clara admitted.

'Me neither, but I'm afraid we are here for a reason.'

'Ah well, we can have fun in the meantime, yeah?'

'Of course. We have to check in first of all.' He led her towards an official-looking building with "Please Check In Here" written in large gilded letters on its sign. They entered the building and started towards the front desk. The lady behind the desk looked human, and Clara leaned closer to the Doctor and asked whether she was.

'Of course,' he whispered. 'We're in the gilded age of the human empire. There are humans spread throughout space, conquering planets and turning them into nothing more than places to go on holiday. Everything revolves around amusement and pleasure; they can't be bothered with much else.'

'That's terrible.'

'That's the future. We can talk about it more later, if you like. Let's go and get a room.'

'A room? Like one room? For both of us?' She felt stupid, but she wanted to be clear.

'Obviously. We're supposed to be on our honeymoon. Do you know what it would look like if we asked for separate rooms? It would look suspicious, that's what. And we don't want to arouse suspicion. We want to act perfectly natur-woah!' He tripped and fell on his face. Clara barely avoided being dragged down with him.

'Are you all right?' she asked him, bending down to make sure he was okay.

'Absolutely!' he said, jumping upright again. 'See? Fine. Now, let's avoid drawing more attention to ourselves.'

They approached the counter. Clara could see that the lady was stifling a laugh. 'Would you like a room or are you just here for the day?'

'Oh I think we'll need a room.'

The lady smiled knowingly, and Clara blushed. The Doctor was oblivious.

'Oh, and can we get one with two beds please?' he added, to Clara's relief.

'Two beds?'

'Yes. You see, my wife kicks in her sleep. She gives me the most awful bruises. But don't worry, we are definitely married and definitely in love. We love each other very, very much and-'

Clara kicked him sharply. The lady couldn't see because of the counter. Clara smiled and said, 'So, one room, two beds. Sorry, he _does_ like to talk.'

'I can see that,' the lady said. 'Here is your key.' She picked up a syringe.

'Woah, what's this now?' Clara asked, stepping away from the counter.

The lady looked puzzled. 'Haven't you ever used a key before?'

The Doctor laughed. 'My wife! she's from a really primitive civilisation. They don't use chip keys there.'

'Oh, I see. Well don't worry Mrs Smith, I'm just going to put this tiny chip in your hand. Then, when you wave your hand in front of the lock, it will open. At the end of your stay, we'll deactivate it.'

'I'll go first,' the Doctor said. The lady stuck the needle into his hand and injected the chip. 'See, Clara? No big deal.'

Clara, feeling foolish and resenting the fact that he had called her civilisation 'primitive,' (though she knew that, by these standards, it was) stepped forward and allowed herself to be injected with the tiny chip. The lady told them what number and floor their room was and they went off to find it.

'This place is enormous!' Clara said. 'How much of the planet is hotel?'

'Oh, about a fourth of it.'

'A fourth of the planet?'

'They get a lot of visitors at a time. It's the most popular honeymoon spot in the human empire.'

'I can see why. It's beautiful.'

'It is, isn't it?' He stopped in front of a door. 'This is our room.'

They went inside to find an enormous room with two very comfortable looking beds, a luxurious bathroom, a sitting area, a balcony, and assorted other standard hotel furnishings. Clara went over to one of the beds and plopped herself onto it. 'This is so comfortable. Look at all these pillows! This is more pillows than I would ever want, and I love pillows.'

'It's great, isn't it?' The Doctor climbed onto his bed and started jumping on it.

'You'll fall off and hurt yourself!'

'Clara, I'm very experienced at this.'

'Are you now?'

'It's what I primarily use my bed for in the TARDIS. Not for sleeping. Sleeping is boring. Who needs sleeping?'

'Do you ever sleep?'

'Once or twice every week or two I think. I don't know. Don't keep track.

'Oh Doctor. That explains quite a lot about you.'

When he had grown tired of jumping, he sat down.

'What else is there to do around here?' Clara asked.

'In the hotel room? Or the whole planet?'

'Either one.'

'Well, we could look at some of the activities in this brochure they gave me. There must be a lot of great things to do here otherwise it wouldn't be so popular. He picked up the brochure and started to excitedly read it. 'This all looks amazing Clara! You'll have to help me to decide.'

She didn't answer - couldn't answer. She felt so funny all of a sudden, and she was floating up in the air above the bed she thought, above the Doctor, right up to the ceiling. And then she was falling down, down, down, down, into a never ending spiral of darkness and she couldn't open her eyes. She felt sick and sweat started pouring off of her face and the Doctor's voice came 'Clara' and 'Clara!' and 'CLARA OSWIN OSWALD!' and 'What is happening to you!' and 'Please!' and 'Stop!' and fading and fading and she was gone.

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**This is going to be a two-parter. See? I'm starting to kill the fluff. Mwahahaha! Reviews? **


	4. READ THIS PLEASE!

**Okay. So I'm getting reviews for Honeymoon Part 2 which I didn't think I was going to post, and haven't read yet. That sounds really weird. Let me explain. Okay, so if I don't eat often, I get really sleepy because my blood sugar gets too low as a result of the medicine I'm on. I had been busy doing stuff, and who has time to eat right? So I was falling asleep. As I was writing. And I was like "got to finish chapter" so I just kept writing ****_with my eyes closed. _****Hey, that's dedication, right? But I just intended to get something down and fix it after sleeping a bit. I didn't intend to post it. Somehow I did anyway. Is it really bad? I'm freaking out right now. What have I done?! I'm going to leave this up while I go and read what I've done and write a new part 2. I'm half laughing, half screaming at myself. And I'm really worried to see what I've done!**

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**So...it couldn't be salvaged. That was properly bad. I've deleted it. Help me you guys! I don't know how to write part 2! What would you like to have happen? **


	5. Honeymoon Part 2

**Okay so here is my second attempt at the second part of Honeymoon. Thank you ClaraForever for giving me inspiration to continue! Also thanks everyone who has given me prompts. I have a folder where I save every one of them with the username of whoever gave it to me. So I have a few to pull from, but I'm really greedy and would always like more! Here we go, second attempt! **

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The Doctor leaned over Clara, shaking her gently and crying out her name. When it first started, she was burning up, but as her breathing and heartbeat slowed, her skin turned cold as ice. Then she abruptly stopped, her heart no longer beating.

'Clara!' he started crying, and he let his face fall onto the bed beside her. It had happened again. She died again.

He stayed that way for a long time, the weight of getting up far too heavy to bear; the thought of facing a Universe devoid of Clara too much for him to face. Perhaps he would stay there forever.

But then he felt a stirring on the bed and Clara sat up.

'Clara!' he threw his arms around her, but she was rigid and unmoving. He pulled away, staring at her in bewilderment. She stared back without a flinch of emotion. 'What's wrong, Clara?'

'Who are you?'

'What do you mean, who am I? I'm the Doctor!'

'Doctor. Oh, you must be the Doctor.'

'You're not Clara.'

It, whatever it was, stared at him. 'Clara Oswald is in my memory banks. You are the Doctor. She thinks about you a lot. You travel together. You rescue her. You will not rescue her.'

'What are you?'

'I am the body of Clara Oswald, being overridden by the chip key.'

'I'll have it deactivated.'

'All of the staff are part of this. No one will help you.'

'Why has it not taken over control of me? Huh? Why just Clara?'

'You were found to be unsuitable. You are not human.'

'What do you need her for?'

'The reason that we need all the rest.'

'What is going on around here? Hmm? What do you think you are doing?'

'We save the very essence of the person onto the chip. Then we extract the chip. The body has nothing to control it and it dies. We save the chip. We can then preserve a selection of bright, intelligent individuals for the case of an emergency. These can be injected into any body.'

'Smart idea. If people weren't dying in the process. Give Clara back to me.'

It didn't speak.

'Look into Clara's memories. Go on. What happens every single time she is in danger? Hmm?'

It was quiet, searching. 'You will not save her,' it repeated.

'Ha! But there's the thing. I always do. And you know that. I am not going to lose her again.'

'What do you think you can do?'

What could he do? If he tried to use his sonic to deactivate the chip, he might delete Clara. He couldn't do that. Then he had an idea. 'Well, first of all, the chip isn't talking. There's someone behind it.' He took out his sonic and started scanning Clara's body. 'I've picked up a signal. Come with me.'

'No.'

'I am not letting Clara out of my sight. Now follow me.'

It obeyed.

He followed the signal a ways until he reached a closed door with 'management' on a plaque next to it.

'Open it.'

'It must be opened from the inside.'

'Don't fool me. Whoever you are, you are behind that door. Now open it.'

The door opened and the Doctor stormed in. A man was standing there, holding the door. He shut it behind the Doctor and what used to be Clara.

'Congratulations, Doctor.'

'Get out of her.'

'Come on, you have to admit it's a great idea! Besides, it's a government operation. You can't shut it down.'

'There are two words that you should never, ever say to me if you don't want to be proven wrong. "You" and "can't."'

'Fine, Doctor. Prove me wrong. I don't think you can.'

'Okay. Picked this up just in case.' He held up a syringe.

'What are you doing?' The man slowly backed away. 'Please-'

'Get out of her.'

'We can take the chip out, Doctor. But her body will die.'

'You can deactivate the chip and restore her. I know that you can.'

'Maybe. That doesn't mean that I will.'

'What if I injected you with this chip? Eh? And then took it out and put it in a drawer somewhere? Let it gather dust, forgotten.'

'Please -'

'I will. I can, you know it's possible. And there is nothing I wouldn't do if it meant having Clara by my side again. So, why don't you go to your little computer over there and get out of my Clara.'

He hurried over to the computer and started punching things in. Clara collapsed on the ground.

The Doctor dropped to his knees beside her and cradled her head in his lap. 'What have you done?'

'She's fine. She'll just take a moment to return to normal.'

He held her, and she slowly regained consciousness and sat up. 'Clara! You're back!' he cried, hugging her tightly.

'Didn't know I was gone,' she said, looking dazed and confused. 'What happened?'

'I'll explain later.' He turned back to the man at the computer. 'You're not going to stop doing this, I know. So long as the government wants you to.'

He shook his head. 'I'm afraid I have no choice. And I believe in the work. It's important to save for the future.'

'So, just out of curiosity,' the Doctor said casually, 'these chips, I suppose you could use them to sort of programme people?'

'Well, yes.'

'And then when you deactivate the chip, the programming would have become part of them?'

'Well, we haven't done it before, but, in theory, yes.'

As they talked, the Doctor had stood and inched closer and closer. Now he was close enough to quickly inject the chip.

'No! I'll call security!'

But it was too late. The Doctor got onto the computer and took control of the chip.

Clara came up behind him, watching. 'So, what are you doing?'

'Reprogramming him. Making him hate what he's doing. Teaching him to resist. He won't be doing this any more. Temporary fix; they'll only replace him eventually. But maybe he can inspire others before then. Either way, I can't leave without at least trying.'

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor explained to Clara what had happened.

He turned away from her, pretending to mess with the console. 'Could I ask you something?' He tried to sound casual.

'Of course you can.'

'When you were being controlled...'

'Oh no, did I do something embarrassing?'

'No! Nothing like that! You - well, not you - said something.'

'Oh my stars what did I say?'

'That you...think about me a lot.'

'Well of course I do! You take me through time and space in your crazy little snogbox.'

'But...is it good things? Or is it bad things like that I'm a crazy madman who is always putting you in danger?'

'Of course it's good things!'

'What kinds of things?' He wanted to make sure she didn't resent him for all the times he put her life on the line. He wanted to make sure that she truly liked travelling with him. And a part of him hoped that she liked him as well.

Clara smiled mysteriously and leaned forward, lowering her voice consiprationally. 'I'll never tell.'

'Well then I'll never tell what I think about you!'

She shrugged. 'All right.' And she started to walk away down the corridor.

'Fine! I won't tell you then!' he called after her, mostly in jest. 'I won't tell you that I l-' he stopped himself just in time.

But Clara heard and turned around quickly, her eyes wide. 'That you what?'

'Nothing. What are you talking about? I didn't even say anything. Did you think I said something? Silly TARDIS always playing tricks on you. I didn't even say anything. Wasn't even talking. Would you look at how long we've been out? About time to get you home now, don't you think? Yes, I think so too. Let's get you-'

Clara interrupted him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. He staggered backwards in shock, then wrapped his arms around her and kissed back.

She let go and cleared her throat. He was completely speechless. They just stood there staring at each other for a moment.

'There,' she said, smiling. 'Saved you the trouble of having to say it.'

'Having to say what?'

She walked off, giggling, down the corridor.

'Oi! Clara! Come back here!'

She didn't listen. He went back to the console, a silly grin stubbornly stuck on his face.

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**There, added some pure silly fluff at the end. I hope this was better. Leave me a review!**


	6. Socks, Jelly, and Wasp

**Hello everyone! I got a three-word prompt from Windgirl20 which I think shall be interesting. I'm supposed to write a story using the words "socks" "jelly" and "wasp." Not too sure how this will work, but one thing it probably will not be is dull! So you see, I will use prompts, no matter how bizarre. Keep them coming!**

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Clara left the TARDIS with a contented smile. Another great adventure with the Doctor. She heard the sound of the TARDIS dematerialise behind her. Squinting in the darkness to find her house key in her handbag, she heard it landing again. Had she left something behind that he was bringing back? Going through a quick mental checklist, she was pretty sure that she had grabbed everything. The doors opened and the Doctor came running out, yelling 'CLAAAAARAAAAA!' He ran and hid behind her, peeking nervously around her at the TARDIS.

She sighed and turned around. 'Hush up, do you want to wake up the whole street? It's ten at night!' Seeing his obvious panic, she added, 'what's wrong?'

'There is a wasp in the console room!'

'How'd that get in?'

'I don't know, must have been on that planet.'

'Well, just squish it. Don't know why you came running to me.'

'I'mscared,' he mumbled.

'What?'

'I'mscared.'

'Speak up.'

'I'm scared! Okay? I said it. I'm scared. I, the Doctor, a thousand-year-old Time Lord with two hearts and slightly-less-than twenty-seven brains am scared. Of a wasp.'

'Blimey, I didn't think you were scared of anything. A wasp? Really?'

'Clara, please.'

'Sorry. So, you're scared, getting that, but why did you come running to me about it?'

He gave her a face.

'Ohhhh. I get it. You want me to come and smash it for you.'

'I was sort of hoping you might, yes.'

She sighed. 'It's supposed to be the girl freaking out about insects and the guy smashing them for her.'

'Well at least_ I'm_ not scared of...' he paused.

'Take your time. Bet you can't find one silly thing I'm scared of.'

'Okay, maybe I can't. But just wait, Clara Oswald. I'm definitely going to find something silly to scare you with.'

'I'd like to see you try.'

'I will. But first, can we please get that wasp out of there? It makes me nervous.'

They went into the TARDIS. Clara could hear the angry buzzing of the wasp. 'Where's it at?'

'Flying all around,' the Doctor said, cowering in the doorway.

'Well, we have to catch it if I'm to smash it. This place is huge.'

'I guess we could use something to lure it to where you can smash it.'

'Tell you what? I'll stay here, you go find something.'

'But that means I'll have to walk...' he gulped, 'through _there._'

'So?'

'So! So there's a wasp flying about, Clara! Be reasonable!'

'Go find something, or I'm going home and leaving you with this wasp.'

'All right! All right!' Head down, arms around it protectively, he ran through the room as through the centre of a battlefield. Clara couldn't help but laugh at him. He could be so completely ridiculous. She half hoped the wasp would sting him so that he could learn that it wasn't half so bad as he was building it up to be.

The Doctor came back with a plate of jelly.

'Doctor, this is no time for a snack.'

'No, silly Clara! This is to catch the wasp!'

'"To Catch A Wasp." Now _that_ would make a great movie title.'

'Focus, Clara! This is serious!'

'Right. Serious. Couldn't you just have used glue or something?'

'Clara, you'll catch more wasps with jelly than with glue. That's a saying, right?'

'Close enough. So, we set that on the floor then, and wait?'

'That's my plan.' He set the jelly on the floor.

'Okay. Waiting.' She sat down near it, and the Doctor sat down next to her. It didn't take long for the wasp to land on it. 'Got anything to hit it with?' she asked him.

'Oh, I forgot about that.'

'Take off your shoe.'

'Why?'

'Because I don't want to get wasp guts on mine and yours is bigger anyway.'

He grumbled as he removed his shoe and handed it to her. He contemplated his socks for a moment. Then he started to walk out of the room, his gait a bit odd because he only had one shoe.

'Where are you going?' she called.

'Nothing. Just had an idea.'

Yes. He was officially weird, Clara thought, smashing the wasp. Now there was wasp and jelly all over his shoe. She should probably go and clean that off or he would have a fit. Pushing herself off the ground, and holding the shoe gingerly to avoid getting jelly-gut-mash on her dress, she started down the corridor. She hoped she would find a sink sooner than later. The corridors got progressively dimmer and dimmer, and Clara was starting to feel a bit frightened. 'Doctor?' she called. There wasn't any answer. She was coming up on a corner.

And suddenly, a sock puppet appeared from around the corner. 'Boo!'

She shrieked and dropped the shoe. 'Oh my stars!' she gasped, spreading her hand across her pounding chest.

A laughing Doctor appeared, sock puppet on one hand. 'Ha! Not scared of anything silly, are we Clara Oswald?'

'I wasn't scared! You just startled me, that's all. People always get startled when things pop out at them.'

He waved the puppet in your face. 'I'm a scary puppet and I'm going to get you!' he said in a silly voice.

'Stop it! Get it away from me!'

'You are scared! You're scared of puppets!'

'I just...don't like them is all.'

'No, you're scared! You, Clara Oswald, are scared of puppets!'

'Okay, listen. You stop teasing me about the puppet thing, and I won't tell anyone how you came and hid behind me, yelling your foolish head off, over one tiny wasp.'

'It's a deal, then,' he agreed. 'Say, do you want to go on one more quick trip before I drop you off for the night?'

'What do you have in mind?'

'I thought you might like to see a puppet show.'

'Hey! Doctor! That's not funny!' she yelled, as he walked away laughing.

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**Just silly pointlessness. Hey, what do you expect, that was a random group of words, I get points for effort, right? Right? Thanks Windgirl20, that was loads of fun! So, reviews? And more prompts? As you can see, no prompt need be thought too silly.**

**'What's wrong with silly?'**

**'Nothin'. Still talkin' to you, ain't I?'**


	7. Blackboard, Chips, Bowtie

**I have so many great prompts I hardly know where to start! I think with another three word one, from jacks marie. Blackboard, chips, bowtie.**

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'Doctor, why do you always wear a bowtie? I don't think I've ever seen you in anything else.' She leaned against the console, eyeing said article of clothing.

'Because bowties are cool!'

Clara made a noise that was something like a verbal shrug.

'What? You don't think so?'

'Well, I mean, they're _all right..._'

'All right?!' He marched off down a corridor.

Clara hoped she hadn't made him angry; she was only joking. She followed him a couple of steps. 'Doctor?'

'Just give me a moment.'

Give him a moment as in he had to use the toilet or something or give him a moment as in he needed to cool off? She really had been only joking...

He came back wheeling a blackboard.

'What's that for?'

'Take a seat, Clara. I'm going to show you why bowties are cool.'

'Sorry, you're going to give me a lecture on bowties?'

'Yes I am actually, because you obviously need one.'

She was so stunned that she obeyed, sitting down and waiting for him to begin. Note to self: never insult the Doctor's clothing.

'First of all, famous bowtie wearers.' He started to furiously scrawl names onto the blackboard. 'Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Frank Sinatra, James Bond, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, shall I go on?'

'Nope, think you've just about covered it.'

'Well I _can_ go on.'

'I'm sure you can. But I don't see why it's so important. So they all wore bowties? So what?'

'So what?! Fine. If that doesn't convince you, it's time for a history lesson.'

'I hated history.'

He ignored her and went on. 'Bowties have been around since the 17th century, when they were used to hold shirt collars closed. The French perfected them. Since then, their popularity has been a little bit up-and-down, but they continue to be worn. Something that has stuck around for that long _must_ be cool!'

'Lots of things that aren't very cool have a long history. Like murder.'

'Well...' he seemed stumped by this, and he thought for a few moments. 'BUT, murder isn't something you can wear,' he said, triumphantly.

'_Oh_, sorry. That makes _perfect_ sense now.'

Seeming to miss her sarcasm, he continued, 'But, the best part of the bowtie is this: who do you think invented them?'

Clara rolled her eyes. 'Let me guess, you?'

'Correct!'

'But...but if you invented them, then they are just cool because you think they are cool.'

'Eh?'

'If you didn't think that they were cool in the first place, no one would be wearing bowties. No one would have invented something that silly on their own. Which makes them not as cool.'

He paused, considering this. Finally, he asked in an offended tone, 'What's wrong with silly?'

'Nothing. It's actually kind of...cool.'

'So bowties are cool then!'

She sighed, defeated. 'Yes, I'll admit they are. A little bit.'

He started dancing around the console room. 'Clara thinks bowties are cool!' he announced to no one in particular.

'I said they were _a little bit_...oh never mind.' The sight of him enjoying himself this much was too good to ruin.

He continued to dance around awkwardly for a while, tickled to death that she liked his bowties. When he twirled past her, he caught her round the waist and pulled her along with him, twirling her around the console. She shrieked and giggled, gasping 'You're insane!'

'And cool!'

'Yes,' she laughed. 'And cool.'

When they were both completely out of breath, he put her down. 'So,' he said, straightening his bowtie. 'What should we do now?'

'Let's do something normal. Like go and grab some chips.'

She didn't notice the way his face darkened for a moment at the mention of the word 'chips.' She didn't know about a certain blonde who had liked them too.

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**Well...that was random. Especially the Rose reference at the end, but chips always make me think of her okay? And I had to fit them in somehow! So, whadya think? Oh, and thanks jacks marie!**


	8. Tiny

**So just now I while I was...****_admiring my Doctor Who action figures on a shelf and totally not playing with them oh no that would be very silly..._****it occurred to me that in all the time I've spent writing silly random things, I've never shrunk anyone. Which, I mean, I love tiny things, why wouldn't I? So you get a bonus chapter because I have to do this now. **

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The Doctor realised that he hadn't seen Clara in a while, which was usually not a good thing. Whenever he left her and the TARDIS unsupervised for too long, things usually got ugly. He went to the kitchen first, because she had mentioned that she might make a souffle, but she wasn't there. He went to the library, a favourite spot of hers, but there was no sign of her. He checked her room, and she wasn't there either. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a small noise. He turned around carefully, searching for the source of the sound. And something caught his eye.

He slowly got down on his stomach, and lay there, face to face with a very small and very cross Clara. She was about 3.75 inches tall.

'Clara?'

'It was your stupid old cow.'

He couldn't help laughing. Tiny angry Clara was much less threatening than regular angry Clara.

'Glad you think it's funny!'

'You're just so..._cute_!' He reached out and touched the top of her head with one finger.

She was looking a little bit dangerous, and he thought maybe it wasn't a good idea to make her cross no matter what size she was.

'Okay, we need to find a way to make you big again. How did this happen?'

'I was just standing here in my room, thinking I might take a nap after all that running we just did, and suddenly, this sort of...laser looking thing came out of the wall and...I don't know I was just tiny all of a sudden. I feel a little dizzy and disoriented. But I'm just glad my clothes shrunk with me!' She smiled cheekily.

The Doctor turned red. 'Oh yes...we can definitely be thankful for that...Now, we need to get you un-tiny again.' He grabbed her, wrapping his fingers around her tiny form. Immediately, she began kicking and punching at his hand.

'Ow! Doctor! You're hurting!'

'Sorry.' He set her back down. 'How do you expect me to un-shrink you if I can't even carry you?'

'Well you can carry me, just please do it more gently.'

He scooped her up gently, cupping her in the palms of both hands. 'Is that better?'

'Yes.'

'Good.' He cradled the tiny Clara for a moment or two, grinning down at her. He was quite certain he would never get to do this again, and he wanted to savour it. She was so little.

'What are you waiting for?'

'Sorry, it's just...you are so adorable! A tiny little Clara! The smallest companion I've ever had.'

'Okay, can we please get me regular size again? Please?'

'Oh yes! Of course! Can't have you that way forever.' He carried her to the console room and set her down on the console. 'Stay put, don't want to lose track of you. Now I need to figure out what exactly the TARDIS did so that I can do the exact same thing.'

'Please hurry! I hate being this small.'

'You've always been small.'

'Hey!'

He chuckled and turned back to one of the screens where he was looking at stuff and muttering to himself. Finally, he said, 'Um, Clara?'

'Yes?'

'How long would you mind being tiny for?'

'Sorry, what? Her voice was taking on a dangerous edge.

'I said-'

'I heard you.'

'It's just...well the effects will wear off in five hours and before you get to angry, let me remind you that you are too tiny to punch me so don't even try!' The words tumbled quickly out of his mouth as he watched Clara's irritation grow.

'You mean I'm stuck like this? For five hours?'

'On the bright side, you are too tiny for punching.'

'Just you wait until I'm back to my own size...'

'Hey, cheer up! We'll have lots of fun!'

'Fun? Fun? You call this fun?'

'It's okay, Clara, calm down...'

'I'm three inches tall!'

'Actually, you're 3.75...' his voice trailed off because he realised that she truly was upset.

'Clara, it's okay.' He cradled her in both hands again, trying to soothe her. 'Come on, let's go and find something to do.'

'I'm sleepy. I was going to take a nap, remember?'

'Oh yes. Here, let's put you to bed.' He carried her gently to her room and set her in the middle of her bed, which was enormous to her now. He gave her a handkerchief for a blanket, because if he actually put her inside of her bed she would get lost and possibly suffocate.

'Please stay close by, Doctor. I'm scared what the old cow will do to me next.'

'She won't hurt you, Clara. She may tease you a bit, but she knows how important you are to me and she would never do permanent harm to you.' He raised his voice slightly, to be sure that the TARDIS knew his words were pointed at her. 'It was just a stupid, very-not-funny joke.'

The TARDIS made a whirring sound.

'Still...will you stay?'

'Of course.' He lay down on the bed, careful to stay far enough away that he wouldn't accidentally roll on top of her and squish her. Clara quickly fell asleep, and he lay there and watched her, the almost imperceptible rise and fall of her chest, the contented expression on her face. She was so perfect, his Clara. Even when she was miniaturised.

He hadn't realised that he was tired, but suddenly he was waking up. A full-sized Clara was next to him, still asleep, and he scrambled out of the bed. Had he slept for five hours? No, he realised, looking at the clock on her wall, it was only fifteen minutes.

'Oh, thank you so much old girl!' he whispered to the TARDIS. And then he left the room so that Clara could sleep.

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**Yeah I dunno, these stories are all kind of weird. I'll be posting another pretty soon, trying to get through all of those wonderful prompts! Reviews? **


	9. Black Lipstick, Surprise, Door

**I got this prompt from only-the-sassiest. I'm supposed to use the words 'black lipstick' 'surprise' and 'door.' I think this one will be less silly weirdness and more emotional. Also, this one, unlike most of the ones I've written in this collection, is post-Trenzalore. **

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The Doctor rang the doorbell at the Maitland's house. Clara answered.

'Hey, come on in. I'm almost ready to go. You can wait for me in the lounge.' She started walking back up the stairs, still talking. 'The Maitlands are out today.'

'How long do I have to wait down here?'

'Shouldn't be long!'

He sat down on the sofa, tapping his foot rapidly and looking around the room in boredom. He couldn't wait. He went upstairs and knocked on Clara's door. She opened it with a smirk on her face. Part of her hair was up, part of it was down, and she was holding a fistfull of hairpins.

'You couldn't wait, could you?'

'Patience is for wimps!'

'Okay, come on in. I'm almost done with my hair.'

He sat down on the bed. 'I like your room. Lots of books.'

'Fll free t' look tru dem,' she said, through the hairpins that she held in her teeth.

He ran his finger along the spines. A photo album caught his eye. 'May I...?'

She turned and looked over her shoulder at the book he was holding. 'Oh sure, go ahead,' she said, this time removing the pins from her mouth.

He started flicking through the pictures. There were many pictures of Clara as a little girl, and pictures of her parents. Most of the pictures were of her mum.

Clara came and sat next to him, her hair finished. He turned quickly past the pictures of her mum, not wanting to make her sad. He came across a picture of Clara as a teenager. She was wearing black lipstick and a scowl, trying her hardest to look rebellious, but she only looked like Clara. She laughed when she saw the picture he was looking at.

'That didn't last long.'

'No, it certainly didn't,' he said, surveying her with her soft brown hair pinned up in a loose knot on the back of her neck, her short, flowy red dress with it's high neck. She was so dainty, delicate, ethereal. He looked back at the picture. 'Is that...purple in your hair?'

She laughed. 'Yeah.'

'You don't even look like the same person.'

'That's because I wasn't. That was right after my mum died. I wasn't myself.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be.' She was quiet for a few moments, and then, with a small smile on her face, she said, 'I'm going to tell you a secret.'

'Oh good! I love secrets.'

'After my mum died, I was that girl, in the picture.' She pointed. 'And then, after about a month, I stopped, because it upset my dad. But I was still that girl inside. Do you know why I was going to travel?'

'Because of your mother's book?'

'That's what I thought. But it was really because I was running away.'

He knew that feeling.

'And then, well you know what happened. Their mum died and I stayed on, and I learned to bottle it all up inside and act like a good role model for them. But inside, I was still her.' She pointed at the picture again. 'And then, I met you.' A big smile crept over her face.

He smiled to match hers.

'And it was just...it was the best day of my life. And now, I'm not that girl any more.'

'I'm so glad.' He closed the photo album and kissed her on the forehead. 'I'm so, so glad that you aren't that girl any more. Don't you ever be that girl, not ever again. You deserve to be happy.'

She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

'Now, Clara Oswald, I am going to tell you a story.'

'I'd love to hear it.'

'It's a story you already know, but I want to tell it to you anyway. It's a story about a very old, very sad man who lost his two best friends in the world. They were more than best friends; they were family. He didn't know how to cope, so he went and lived on a cloud and let the world go on without him. He would have lived there forever. But...' He looked at her, waiting for her to complete the sentence.

She smiled. 'He met a girl.'

'Yes, he did. And she was the most beautiful, stubborn, fascinating girl. And she practically dragged him off of that cloud, and she made him happy again. And that was _you,_ Clara. No one else could have done it.'

'So, we saved each other, then?'

'Yes, we did.'

'That's what we do.'

They sat there for a quiet moment. Then the Doctor jumped to his feet. 'But, now I have a surprise for you!'

'A surprise?'

'Yes! Come on, follow me.'

He dragged her out the front door and into the TARDIS, excitedly flying it to what he wanted to show her.

'Are you ready, Clara Oswald?'

'I think so.'

He held out his hand, and she took it eagerly. He opened the door of the TARDIS, and they were looking out into space. In front of them, they could see a galaxy. It was red, and it was in the shape of Clara's leaf.

'Oh my stars!'

'Yes!' he said, practically jumping up and down, 'they _are_ your stars! I named this galaxy "Clara's Leaf."'

'Hang on, is that it's actual, proper name?'

'Yes, that is it's actual, proper name.'

Her face lit up more brightly than any of the stars outside that door, and he knew better than he knew anything else that he was going to kiss her. And he did, right there, on the edge of open space.

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**Thanks only-the-sassiest! How do you guys feel about this one?**


	10. Apple, Scarf, Puzzle

**Hello! I got this prompt from AMysteriousWoman711. Another three-word one (if you guys are getting tired of these, just let me know). This time it's 'apple,' 'scarf,' and 'puzzle.' Oh, and jacks marie has been begging for one where they meet a former companion. Anyone have a companion that you would particularly like to see? Oh, and for some reason I've been stuck in the Doctor's POV for the last couple of chapters, and I was going to switch things up and do Clara's this time, but it didn't quite work out that way. Maybe next time!**

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The Doctor heard a strange sound coming from somewhere on the console. It was a sort of 'ding' noise. Cautiously, he searched for the source of the sound. It was a mobile. He forgot he had one of those. It said that he had a text from Clara. That was strange, Clara usually called to talk to him.

Carefully, he picked it up and read it. It said, 'Don't come today. You can skip to next week, K'

He frowned. He didn't like the sound of that. First of all, 'K?' What did she mean by that? Was 'K' the first letter of a word, but she had pressed send too soon? 'K' as in...Koalas, kangaroos...Krillitanes! Were there Krillitanes? Was Angie a Krillitane? He knew it. He had never liked that girl. Or maybe it didn't stand for something. Did she mean potassium? Bananas are a good source of potassium, and bananas are good. Did she want some bananas? Should he bring her some? Did she...oh this was useless, he would have to go and ask her himself, even though she had told him not to come. This was far too serious to ignore.

He pounded on the door, and after a second, It opened a crack. He could see a sliver of Clara.

'Clara! What did you mean 'K?' The letter 'K'? Krillitanes? Potassium? I spent quite some time trying to figure it out and I decided to just come and ask you.'

She rolled her eyes and made a disgusted noise. Letting the door swing open all the way, she grabbed a pen and paper from the table next to the door and wrote 'Okay.'

He scratched his head. 'Oh...'K' as in okay!'

She nodded.

'Wait a second...why aren't you talking?'

She clutched her throat and hoarsely whispered, 'voice is gone.'

'Oh! Is that why you didn't want me to come?'

She nodded.

'Well it's no fun being sick by yourself!' He grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the TARDIS, determined that she was going to have the best sick day ever. She grabbed the door-frame and stood her ground.

'What's the matter?'

'No adventures,' she rasped.

'No, no adventures. Just a quiet afternoon.'

She smiled and followed him. He took her to the library and she sat down on one of the sofas. He ran around grabbing things for her. Some hot tea for her throat, his scarf from seven regenerations ago, a pen and paper so that she wouldn't have to speak aloud, and as an afterthought, a jigsaw puzzle. He'd had it sitting around for ages, always meaning to do it, but never finding the patience. He returned to the library with all of these things. He handed her the tea, wrapped the scarf around her neck ('The TARDIS can be a little drafty. Have to keep your throat warm!') and started setting up the jigsaw puzzle on a big table which he pulled in front of the sofa.

She took the pen and paper and wrote, 'jigsaw puzzle?'

'It will be fun! I've been meaning to do this for ages!'

'That's a lot of pieces,' she wrote.

'Oh come on, it's not that bad! We'll get through it in no time!'

An hour later, they had only the border done. Clara shook her head and started to put it away.

'No! Hey! Stop!'

'Bored,' she wrote.

'Okay, let's do something else. What do you want, Clara?'

She thought for a few minutes, then wrote 'apple pie.'

'Apple pie?!'

She nodded.

'_Why?!'_

'It just sounded good,' she wrote.

'But apples are rubbish!'

'I love apples,' she wrote, underlining 'love' several times.

'What? Now you know what's _actually_ good? Bananas. How about a banana pie?'

She shook her head.

'Fine.' He headed towards the kitchen, followed by a triumphant Clara. Cooking wasn't difficult in the TARDIS - she did most of the work and speeded everything up. He had that apple pie done in less than five minutes and ready for Clara, who was waiting at the table.

He put it down in front of her and quickly stepped away, wiping his hands clean of the awful thing he had just touched. 'There. Eat that.'

She took a bite and smiled. She poked the fork into the pie a second time and offered it to the Doctor.

'No. I'm definitely not trying it.'

She stood up and walked towards him with the fork, and he backed up nervously until he was against the wall, Clara inches from him, forcing the bite of pie towards his face. He didn't know what was more disconcerting - being this close to Clara or having a fork stuck so near his face.

'Um...Clara, you are rather...close to me.'

She smiled a smile that meant nothing good, and took another step forward. He tried to squirm away and only succeeded in getting himself into a corner.

'Clara!'

She took advantage of his mouth being open to stuff the pie in his mouth. He tried to spit it out but she clamped her hand on his mouth, and he wouldn't dream of spitting pie into her perfect little hand. Which meant that he had to eat it. He chewed irritably, his irritability melting into thoughtfulness, which then turned into wonder and finally delight. 'That is good!'

She smiled brightly and nodded.

He ran over to the table, grabbing a second fork on his way, and started excitedly stuffing pie into his face.

Clara let out a squawking sound and pushed him out of the way, trying to get to the pie. It became a very unmannerly race, full of elbowing and stabbing each other's hands with forks. Within a matter of minutes, they stared in disgust at the empty pie tin, then at each other.

'Did we really eat that entire thing in less than five minutes?' Clara wrote.

'I'm afraid so.'

She gagged and put her hand over her mouth.

'Want to go finish the puzzle?'

She nodded. They spent the rest of the afternoon working on the puzzle together. It was only halfway done when Clara wrote that she had to go home. The Doctor waved goodbye to her and then made a dash for the kitchen to make another apple pie. Maybe apples weren't so rubbish after all.

* * *

**Well so yeah, I was listening to some really funny stories being read aloud as I was writing this, and so I was half-paying attention to this, half-paying attention to that, and yes, the result may have been a pretty rubbish story, I'll let you decide. Thanks for the prompt, AMysteriousWoman711!**


	11. Companions

**Okay, okay jacks marie! Here you go then. :) **

* * *

There was one thing that really bothered Clara about the Doctor: he didn't like to talk about the people who used to travel with him. In fact, before that time when the TARDIS showed her pictures, she had believed that she was the first. When she confronted him about it, he merely told her that he did travel with people before, and changed the subject. But she couldn't let it go. One day, she decided that she couldn't take it anymore.

'Doctor, what happens to people when you don't travel with them anymore? Why don't you ever talk about them?' They were in the console room, and she was sitting in a chair, eyeing him thoughtfully.

'Sometimes they decide to leave. Want to go and have a life of their own. And sometimes I leave them. And once in awhile...events happen that I can't control. They get separated permanently from me. Sometimes...sometimes they die.'

'I'm sorry.'

'No, it's okay.' He quickly changed the subject with, 'So, where do you want to go today?'

'I would like...I would like to meet one of them.'

'One of what?'

'You know what I'm talking about.'

His face darkened. 'Clara, I don't usually like to do that. It hurts too much.'

'I'm sure it does. But think about what it would be like to be me, knowing that you've travelled with so many people and none of them are here now. You would probably be a little worried, don't you think? You would probably want to meet someone who could reassure you that it's possible to walk away from this snogbox in one piece.'

'I suppose you do have that right.'

'So, who can we meet then?'

The Doctor lead her to the library, where he pulled out a photo album. 'Most recent companions...' He opened to a page with a picture of a blonde girl with a big smile.

'Who's that?'

'Her name was Rose. Rose Tyler. We can't ever see her.'

'Why not?'

'She's stuck in a parallel universe.' He quickly turned the page. 'Oh, here's Captain Jack Harkness. He was...interesting.'

'And what happened to him?'

'Oh he's alive. Actually, he's immortal. But he is quite a story for another day.' He turned the page again. 'Martha Jones. She's alive too. And her husband, Mickey. Good old Mickey the idiot. That's him right there.'

'What was she like? Martha?'

'She...fancied me.'

She grinned. 'Oh? So the snogbox was put to use then?'

'No! Absolutely not! It was one-sided, poor girl. She wouldn't recognise me now, I suppose. I had a different face then.' He turned the page. 'Donna Noble. She was a great friend. Loud and funny. She had quite the mind of her own.'

'What happened to her?'

'Oh, she survived, and she's happy, and married, and wealthy. But she can never remember that she travelled with me.'

'That's horrible. I'd rather die than forget our adventures.'

'She would have too, but I didn't give her that choice. I had to do what was best for her.' He turned the page again and his voice caught as he said, 'My Ponds. Amy and Rory. Amy was the first face this face ever saw. Rory was her husband. Always loyal, Rory was. He waited for her for 2,000 years to keep her safe. And Amy...she was my best friend.'

Clara noticed the expression on his face. She knew that expression. It was the same expression she got when talking about her mum. She didn't need to ask what had become of them. She took his hand and held it tightly instead.

'And look!' he said, quickly changing the subject. 'There's a page for you! Still empty, as yet.'

'Doctor, can we meet one of them? One of the ones that are okay to visit?'

'Of course! Who would you like to meet?'

Clara smiled mischievously. 'I'd rather like to meet him,' she said, turning back to Jack's page.

'Captain Jack?! But _why?!'_

'Because he's rather good looking.'

'Clara!'

'What? Can't blame me for wanting to meet someone. Not a lot of snogging goes on in your snogbox.'

He stared at her with complete disgust.

'Oh come on, Doctor! I want to meet him! You said I could meet one of them!'

'Oh Clara, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.'

'Rather liking the sound of that.'

He gasped and she walked off giggling towards the console. 'Coming, Doctor?'

She could hear him grumbling behind her. He muttered to himself the entire time until they landed. Clara didn't know what he was even saying, but she caught things like 'if he lays one finger on her...' 'imagine the flirting when they get together' '_my_ impossible girl...'

The TARDIS landed and he sighed deeply. 'Okay, Clara. Basic guidelines. For him, "hello" is never just hello. Also, keep a good six feet away from him - that being almost too close. And whatever you do...You're not even listening, are you?'

'Not a bit!'

'Fine. Come on.'

He walked out of the TARDIS looking like a man going to his own funeral. Oh, this was going to be good, Clara knew. Otherwise he wouldn't be acting this way.

The Doctor led her into a building called 'Torchwood.' They asked to see Jack Harkness. When he came to see them, the Doctor smiled and said, 'Hello, Jack. It's been awhile.'

'I'm guessing you're the Doctor? Have you changed your face again?'

'Yes.'

'Aren't you going to introduce me to her?' He asked, smiling a big, cheesy smile at Clara.

'This is Clara Oswald,' the Doctor said, burning a hole in the ceiling with his eyes and speaking through his teeth.

'Hello!' He held out his hand, but before Clara could take it, the Doctor awkwardly wrapped his arm around her. Clara looked at him in surprise, but didn't try to pull away.

'She is my newest companion,' the Doctor said, very pointedly.

'Relax! I was just saying hello.'

'Yes, well, it was nice talking to you. Come along, Clara. I think we have to go now. Planets to save, civilisations to rescue...' He started to walk away, holding her hand and attempting to drag her along with him.

'Hang on, Doctor. Me and Jack here were just getting acquainted.' She smiled flirtatiously at Jack, who smiled back.

'Oh this is just _brilliant,_' the Doctor muttered.

'So, have you travelled with him long?'

'Just a few months,' Clara said, twirling her hair round her finger. 'In his snogbox.'

Jack raised his eyebrows at the Doctor.

'Oi! It's not like that!'

But Clara and Jack were ignoring him, lost in their flirting. The Doctor paced back and forth behind Clara, stopping every few moments to glare menacingly at Jack. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

'We have places to go. Come _on._'

Clara sighed and reluctantly waved goodbye to Jack. She caught up with the Doctor, who was already storming out of the building towards the TARDIS.

'Hey, what's wrong?'

'Oh nothing. Thought maybe you'd rather be _his _companion. Find out what kind of stars he would show you.'

She stopped him before he went into the TARDIS, getting between him and the door, forcing him to look her in the eye. 'Are you seriously jealous?'

'Jealous? Me? No. Never. Why would I be jealous?'

She moved aside so that he could enter the TARDIS and followed him into it.

'So,' he asked, with a transparent air of casualness. 'What did you think of Jack?'

She shrugged. 'He was okay.'

'Okay?'

'I mean, he was fun to flirt with a bit, but not someone I would go out with.'

'No?'

'I like guys who are a little more...I don't know. Like you, for instance.'

'Me?' he squeaked.

'You're funny. And clever. And mad. And...real.'

A silly grin crept over his face.

'You actually make people feel needed. Now Jack, he doesn't need anyone. He can just go smile at any pretty face - I take it male or female - and that's all it takes. But you actually need people, don't you? That's why you take all of these people with you. You need them as much as they need you.'

'Yes. That is true. I've needed every single person who I've taken with me.'

'Even me?'

'Oh, most definitely you.'

She smiled, and then went back to what she had been saying. 'So, given the choice between someone like Jack and someone like you, I'd pick someone like you any time.'

'So...does that mean...because, we could...if you wanted we could...be...a...sort of...well...a..._couple.'_

Clara's face lit up into a giant smile. 'I think you know my answer.'

'Well then, Clara Oswald...I guess that makes you my girlfriend.'

'And that makes you my boyfriend...' A shocked look crossed her face, as she moaned, 'Oh my stars, the kids are right!'

He laughed and kissed her.

'So, Clara, I guess that means we aren't going on an adventure today. I guess now it's a date.'

* * *

**Was this okay? Thanks jacks marie for pestering me to get this one written! **


	12. Road Trip Part 1

**So I think I've said this before, but due to the fact that in the last story they became a couple, I think I need to reiterate: these stories are entirely unconnected. Meaning, just because they kiss or are a couple or something in one story doesn't affect the next story. You could start reading anywhere and skip around. I did this because I really enjoy the un-official romance the Doctor and Clara have got going on the show and think it's really cute, and I want to keep that here.**

**Okay, now we got that out of the way, this is somewhat loosely based off of a prompt from Windgirl20. She suggested one in which they lose the TARDIS. I thought it would be fun to make them have to go on a road-trip to get it back. Because come on, I can't be the only one to think that a whouffle road trip would be the most adorable thing ever! America is a big, road-trip kind of country (at least, I imagine so...) so, America it is. Here we go then!**

* * *

'Clara!' she heard the Doctor call. She reluctantly pulled herself out of the swimming pool to go and see what he wanted, not even bothering to towel off. She rushed to the console room, because it sounded urgent.

'Oh, there you are - Clara!' He shut his eyes and turned around.

Slightly worried, she glanced down at herself, expecting a severe wardrobe malfunction and preparing to be completely embarrassed. All she saw was her not-very-revealing bikini. 'Uh, Doctor, it's a swimsuit. I was at the pool.'

Cautiously turning around he nodded. 'Oh, of course it is. Sorry.' He still kept his eyes averted.

'So, what was the big emergency?'

He stared at her blankly.

'You yelled for me like a Dalek was after you.'

'Oh! Right! It just occured to me, after our little misadventure with the submarine, we never did go to Vegas, did we?'

'No, we didn't.'

'Would you like to go now?'

'Sure!'

'But...could you maybe...put some clothes on first?'

She smiled. 'If it bothers you. What should I wear?'

'Wear what you were going to wear last time!'

'What was I going to wear last time?' She remembered, but she wanted to see if he remembered.

'That silvery blue dress?'

She put on a blank look, as if she couldn't quite remember.

'You know, sleeveless? Buttons down the front?'

'No, don't quite remember...'

'It was really shimmery, kind of...kind of tight up top...' His face flamed red.

'Oh yes, now I remember it! Okay, I'll be right back!' She kept a straight face until she reached the wardrobe, where she collapsed into a fit of laughter.

'Oi! I can hear you!' the Doctor yelled.

Stupid Time Lord senses or the TARDIS being mean; she didn't know which. She found the dress and slipped into it. Blimey, it was rather tight up top. She'd forgotten that. She almost considered having the Doctor zip her up, but she didn't know if his poor hearts could take that. She didn't want to give him a heart attack just when he was about to take her to Vegas.

Returning to the console room, she cleared her throat. He turned and stared at her, making her feel slightly self-conscious. To hide this fact, she giggled and twirled around, making the skirt flare out.

'What do you think?'

'Clara, you're lovely.' His voice was filled with pure wonder.

Clara smiled and went to stand next to him at the console.

'Ready to go?'

She nodded and smiled.

'Viva Las Vegas!' He said, opening the door.

'Careful, don't speak too soon,' Clara warned, peeking around him. But there was no wet scene in front of them with people yelling and getting dashed about. It really was Vegas.

'So Clara, what do you think?'

'It's...very big.'

They stepped out of the TARDIS, which immediately dematerialised.

'No!' Clara yelled, grabbing at it in vain as it disappeared.

'What? That's not...'

She glared at him angrily. 'What have you done?!'

'Nothing! I didn't do anything!'

'What was that thing you did last time?'

'What, the HADS? Oh...I was fiddling with that again. I made it less touchy though! And there's nothing here that would have...Oh. Clara, look.'

She turned and saw what he was staring at. An innocent-faced dog, leg lifted.

'What, so the TARDIS thought that was a threat?'

'Well, how would _you_ like it if a dog urinated on you?!'

'Fair enough. So are we going to have to go find it then?'

'I'm sorry. One of these days I promise to take you on a proper trip to Vegas. At least we were close, eh?'

'It's all right, I understand. So where's it gone?'

He did something with his sonic. 'Oh no! No!'

'Uh oh. That doesn't sound good.'

'She's in New York.'

'But thats...'

'Across the country, I know, I don't need to be reminded, thank you.'

'It's okay, we'll just get a plane or something.'

'No, planes are boring. Let's drive!'

'Drive? To New York? From Vegas? Doctor, that'll take days! I thought you hated going the long way.'

'Wrong, I hate sitting around and being patient. This would be different.'

'No offense, but I don't know that I could survive being stuck for days in a car with you.'

'Come on, please? I've always meant to go on a road trip!'

Clara sighed. 'Fine.'

He cheered and grabbed her hand, pulling her along, talking excitedly. 'Come on! Let's go and get a car! And we'll need lots of food! And camping stuff, we can camp when we have to stop for the night! And some music, I love music!'

'You are really enjoying this, aren't you?'

'Yes!'

The Doctor left Clara at a store to start gathering things they would need, telling her that he would come back to pick her up with a car. She went to the food section and started gathering things that wouldn't spoil.

'Hello Clara!' said the Doctor's voice. Out of nowhere. In her ear.

She turned around angrily, but she couldn't frown for too long at his goofy grin. 'That was fast.'

'Yes, well, I got a car and thought I'd come join you.'

'I'm guessing it was slightly illegal and involved your psychic paper, so I don't really want to know.'

'Actually it's rather a good story-'

'Nope. Don't want to know.'

He scanned the contents of her trolley. 'This is all boring food! Where are the jammie dodgers?'

'I don't think they have them here.'

'NO JAMMIE DODGERS?!'

'Shhh, don't shout! People are staring!'

It was true, a lot of people were looking curiously at the strange couple. Clara realised that they must look pretty odd, standing in the supermarket, all dressed up, with the Doctor all but throwing a tantrum about jammie dodgers.

'How about we find something similar,' she said, in a voice she used with Artie. She led him to the biscuit (or, here, cookie) aisle and let him look around.

'None of these are anything like jammie dodgers,' he grumbled, even as he tossed package after package into the trolley.

'We can't buy all of these! You'll have to pick a few.'

'This is a few!'

'No, this is more like ten. Pick one or two of your favourites and -'

He was giving her a face.

'Fine. You'd better have found a big car. And a lot of money.'

'I've got both!'

'How did you get - you know what, I don't want to know.'

'Sonic screwdriver, ATM...'

'I don't want to know!' She pushed her trolley quickly out of the aisle, as he chased after her.

'I wasn't done there!'

'Yes you were. We've enough food. What else did we need?'

'Camping stuff!'

'Do we have to? Can't we stay in a hotel?'

'Where's your sense of adventure? Come on!'

He ran off to the camping aisle, and Clara panted to keep up, with her considerably shorter legs and laden-down trolley. When she caught up with him, he immediately started throwing things in the trolley.

'Two sleeping bags...Oooh, flashlights! Oh and a tent, we'll need a tent! Look at all these tents! Which one do you want, Clara?'

'Don't care. Just so long as it's easy to set up.'

'This one looks nice!'

She looked at it and shook her head. 'Doctor, it says 'four room luxury vacation resort tent.' We definitely do not need that.'

'But four rooms! We could each have a bedroom, and then a living room and a room to keep the biscuits!'

'Doctor, we aren't moving into the tent! It's just to sleep in when we absolutely need to stop.'

'Fine. How about this one? Basic, nothing fancy or fun.'

'Much better.'

By the time they were done, the Doctor had needed to go and get a second trolley, because they had filled the first one completely and the Doctor still wasn't satisfied.

'We have to make this _fun_, Clara!' he would say, whenever she raised any objections to his purchases.

When they got up to pay, Clara heard him make a sound of irritation.

'What is it now?'

'You didn't get any crisps!'

'Doctor, we don't need all this junk food. You'll end up feeling sick.'

'I want crisps!'

'Fine, you know what, go get crisps. I don't care, it's your stomach, and your money!'

He ran off happily to get some.

The lady at the counter was laughing. 'You two aren't from around here, are you?'

'Nope. I'm from England, and he's from a whole different planet.'

The lady laughed; taking the 'different planet' bit as a joke, as Clara had intended.

'He's certainly pretty weird,' the lady said.

'Oh yeah.'

'You two married?'

'No!' Clara said, a bit too hastily. 'No we're just friends. We travel together.'

'Oh, sorry! I just thought...I mean, you two seem like newlyweds.'

'Who does?' the Doctor asked. He had a bad habit of sneaking up that way.

'Nothing. No one. I see you've found the crisps - Doctor, we only need one bag! How many do you have there anyway?'

'Oh, I don't know. I got a little excited with all the flavours.'

'In the end, this does have to fit into a car, you know that right? One that isn't bigger on the inside?'

'I know, I know!'

'So choose _one_ and put the rest back.'

He went off sulkily.

'Never mind,' the lady said, laughing. 'You're more like his mom than his bride.'

'Yeah, we've got a bit of an odd relationship. We usually travel in much more spacious quarters.'

The Doctor came back with not one, but two bags of crisps. He gave Clara a defiant look as he handed them over to the lady. Clara said nothing.

When they finally got out of the supermarket, the Doctor excitedly showed Clara their transportation. It was a beat-up, TARDIS blue (go figure) minivan.

'Oh come on, Doctor! You could have done better than that. Think of all the cool cars you could have picked! This thing looks like it's going to break down!'

'But we can fit a lot of stuff in it. And it's the colour of the TARDIS!'

She sighed. 'Help me load it up?'

'Sure.'

They played a sort of advanced Tetris trying to load everything into the car. The Doctor made sure that all of the food was easily accessible from the front of the van. When they were finally done, Clara was already feeling exhausted.

'Maybe we should unpack and camp right here! I don't know if I can take this!'

'It's all right, I'll drive!'

'Are you sure? Have you ever driven an actual, proper car before? Because just because it's blue doesn't mean it's going to be like the TARDIS and if you get us killed -'

'Relax! I used to have a car, way back when.'

'Really?'

'Oh yes. Nice old car. Good old Bessie.'

'You named your car?'

'Yes.'

'Blimey. Maybe you are a normal bloke after all.'

'Do normal blokes name their cars?'

'Sometimes. My dad had an old car he used to love like crazy. Called it Ellie, which my mum pretended to be cross about, but she didn't mind it.'

'Hooray for me being a normal bloke!' He said, doing a little twirly dance thing in the parking lot.

'And there you go. You just lost it. Not normal any more.'

'Well, hooray for me being normal for five minutes, at least.'

'Yes, hooray for that.'

By the time they actually got in the car and started driving, it was about three o'clock in the afternoon. It took a few headaches and getting lost (the Doctor insisted that he knew where he was going and would not listen to Clara's GPS), but soon they were heading east on I-15. At this rate, they wouldn't get far before they would have to stop for the night, but it was a start. Clara was already busy looking up camping sites on her phone.

'Apparently, we can camp just about anywhere as long as we are at least 200 feet away from a road or water-source, use existing fire pits if available, don't dump raw sewage anywhere...Yup, that's about all there is to it.'

'Well, that will be easy then.'

After a few minutes of silence, the Doctor suggested they play a game.

'Okay, what sort of game?'

'How about I spy? I always love a good game of I spy.'

'I haven't played that game in ages!'

'I'll go first! I spy with my little eye...' He thought for awhile.

'Still there, Doctor?'

'Yes, I'm just thinking.'

'I think you're over-thinking it. Want me to go first?'

'No, it's my turn. Oh and you'll never guess it!'

'Okay. I'm waiting.'

'You only get three tries.'

'I'm pretty sure that's not in the rules.'

'It is now, because you aren't going to guess this one.'

'Okay, if you're so sure of yourself, let's hear it.'

'I spy with my little eye something impossible.'

'You?'

'No, why?'

'I dunno, most people think aliens are impossible. It was a guess.'

'Okay, second guess.'

'I don't know! If you can see something, it obviously isn't impossible, is it?'

'I don't know, Clara. Why don't you tell me?'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Never mind.'

'You're not making sense.'

'You have two more guesses. Use them wisely.'

'Ugh, fine. Um...how about how boring this landscape is after awhile?'

'No. One more guess.'

'I give up.'

'Oh come on, one more guess.'

'No really, I give up. There is nothing impossible anywhere, except how annoying this game just got.'

'Okay. Your turn.'

'What? Aren't you going to tell me what yours was?'

'You didn't do all your guesses.'

'Bet you never had one. I spy with my little eye...something adorable.'

'Oooh, did I miss a puppy or a bunny or something?' He swerved the car in a terrifying manner as he attempted to look.

'No! Just pay attention to the road!'

'Okay...but really, did I miss whatever it was?'

'No. It's still here. Three guesses.'

'This van?'

'Absolutely not.'

'You?'

'You think I'm adorable?'

'Well...yes. I do.'

She smiled. 'That's really sweet, but no.'

'Biscuits?'

'You, stupid!'

'Me? I'm adorable?'

'Yes, but don't go crashing the van because of it.'

He drove along with a silly smile. The sun was going down, so they decided to stop for the night and set up camp.

And _that_ was an adventure in and of itself.

* * *

**Wow this was a long chapter! As you can see, this is only part one. Oh, just a note: I got all my information about the camping thing and the route they would take off the internet. Don't hate me for getting it wrong, though you are aloud to nicely correct me. Hope you enjoyed! Reviews please!**


	13. Road Trip Part 2

**Hello everyone! Just wanted to take a minute to thank you all for the reviews/follows/favourites/prompts/suggestions/mes sages or just reading in the first place! You guys are wonderful and supportive. Here's part 2. I think this story may continue for a couple of parts because I am so enamoured of the idea of a whouffle road trip. So if you don't like it, just bide your time until it's over!**

* * *

Clara crossed her arms and sighed dramatically. 'Well if you would just read the _instructions - _you know, that handy little book that tells you exactly how to set it up?'

'I don't need instructions, I've almost figured it out.'

'No you haven't! And you almost broke a couple of pieces already! I'm tired, it's getting dark, and I want to speed this up.'

'I've almost got it.'

'Look, you don't even need to read the instructions, I'll read them to you. See, you're supposed to -'

'I don't need instructions! Look, see, I'll just stick this stick thing right into the ground and then drape the tent-y part over it, and there you are! Nice tent!'

All he had done was balance one of the tent poles in an upright position and drape the tent over it.

'That's not even _close! _Look at this picture, does that look anything at all like this picture? And look at all these extra parts!'

'There are always extra parts.'

'There's not even a floor!'

'I don't have time to deal with your minor complaints, Clara. It has a roof, doesn't it?'

'Yes.'

'Then it's a shelter! It's not my fault if we bought a defective tent.'

'Well, if you follow the _instructions _for once-'

'Come on,' he interrupted her, 'let's get the sleeping bags in there and then find something to eat. I'm starving!'

They each grabbed a sleeping bag and slipped under the edge of the tent, which immediately collapsed on top of them. Clara shrieked and yelled 'Told you so!' and they scrambled about, trying to find their way out. They wound up getting tangled with each other, and finally rolled, breathless and laughing, out from under the tent, an insane tangle of limbs, the Doctor on top of Clara, who was laughing too hard to notice. Eventually, they caught their breath, stopped laughing, and noticed each other.

'Oh, hello Clara,' the Doctor said, as though surprised to see her there, pinned down, inches from his face.

'Hello, Doctor. Mind getting off of me?'

'Oh, yes, of course! Sorry!' He scrambled up, only to trip on the tangle of tent.

Clara couldn't help but laugh. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes, fine!' he said, standing up and straightening his bowtie. 'Never better. Tell you what? How about you set up the tent and I'll go see about the food.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

Even though Clara had never set up a tent before, it wasn't a big tent, and she found that it wasn't that difficult at all. She went back to the car to find the Doctor sitting in the open door of the van, a different kind of biscuit in each hand, happily munching away.

'Do you need help?' he asked.

'Nope, all finished.'

'Are you sure? That was really fast. Was it hard?'

To make him feel better, she said that it was really hard and she almost couldn't figure it out. Then she asked if he'd found anything for dinner. He held up the biscuits, as though she hadn't seen.

'That's not dinner food! Come on, let's see what we can find that has actual nutritional value.'

'There's nothing good here,' he whined. 'Just a lot of canned stuff.'

'Yes well I didn't want things that we'd have to keep stopping for ice to keep cold.'

'But I don't like canned stuff!

'Doctor, make yourself useful and go build a fire.' She regretted it almost instantly, but calmed herself by remembering that they were in the desert and there wasn't a lot for him to burn down. He ran off excitedly to goodness only knew where. She dug out the firewood and the lighter that they had bought and waited for him to come back. Sure enough, not two minutes went by before he was standing there again. Before he even said anything, she handed him the stuff.

'Oh, just what I needed! Thank you!' and he ran off happily again to start a fire.

'There's a place where someone already had a fire! Make sure you do it there!' she called to his retreating form.

'I will!'

She got out the camp stove and two cans of soup, and joined him by the fire. He looked quizzically at the stove.

'What's the fire for if we have a stove?'

'Just for fun and warmth. And for these.' She showed him a package of marshmallows. 'Before you get too excited, I'm imposing a limit of three at the very most.'

He hugged her unexpectedly, and after a moment of just standing there like a surprised wooden board, she hugged him back.

'Wow,' she said, after they had let go of each other, 'didn't know it was that easy to please you.'

'My needs are simple.'

'I guess. Now come on, help me figure out this stove. We have to eat our dinner before anything else.'

After they had eaten their soup and roasted marshmallows (and the Doctor had far surpassed his limit of three), they sat for awhile under the stars. The view was breathtaking.

'You know,' Clara said, leaning her head against his shoulder, 'it's lovely to be among the stars, but there's nothing quite like being here below them.'

'No, there isn't, is there?' He wasn't really looking at the stars at all, though, he was looking at her, and it was making her feel the slightest bit awkward.

'Come on then,' she said, standing up. 'Help me tidy up camp and we'll go to bed. We need to get an early start tomorrow.'

They cleaned up quickly and went into the tent. Clara groaned.

'What is it?'

'We didn't pack any clothes!'

'We'll stop somewhere tomorrow.'

'But what about tonight? I'm not sleeping in this dress.'

'Well you're just going to have to,' the Doctor said, turning bright red. 'You can't sleep _out _ of the dress, now can you?'

'I don't know, can I?'

'No. You can't.'

'Why not?'

'Because...because...because that would be _indecent.'_

'Okay. I won't offend your delicate sensibilities.'

'My sensibilities aren't delicate!'

'Whatever you say. Goodnight!'

'Goodnight, Clara.'

The Doctor's sleeping bag seemed to have had difficulty staying put during the night. He had started out as far as was possible from Clara, which made her smile. But when she woke up, she was partially laying on the side of the tent, which made the entire thing tilt a bit, and the Doctor, sound asleep, was almost on top of her. It was not the most comfortable of situations, and she tried to wake him up.

'Doctor?'

He didn't wake up.

'Doctor!' she shouted.

His eyes opened and he said something incoherent about danger and where was his sonic, making a vain attempt to spring to his feet, which, considering he was in a sleeping bag and the tent had a low ceiling, ended in him tripping over himself and ending in a tangled heap on the floor, which caused him to wake up fully. 'What's going on?'

'I don't know, I tried to wake you and I think you thought we were under attack.'

'Oh. We aren't, are we?'

'No, just us.'

He kicked out of his sleeping bag and stood up, still fully dressed in everything except his shoes, jacket, and bowtie, which he was in the process of putting on.

'So,' Clara said, as casually as she might, 'how did you sleep?'

'Quite well. And you?'

So he didn't remember. She would have to tease him about it. 'Oh, I would have slept well, but it was a little bit difficult with you on top of me.'

'What?'

'You're heavier than you look, and you're all bones and angles and it's quite uncomfortable.'

His face turned red. 'But...how...'

'Relax, I think you rolled over here in your sleep. Goodness sakes, you've got tons of layers on and were in a sleeping bag, what did you think happened?'

'I didn't...shut up!'

She giggled and stretched, patting down her hair and wishing she had thought to buy a hairbrush and a mirror. With all the Doctor's nonsense, she hadn't been able to concentrate on making sure they had the things they actually needed.

'My hair look okay?' she asked the Doctor.

'Yes. How about mine?'

His was sticking out at a thousand odd angles. She laughed and got out of her sleeping bag, crawling over to him and smoothing it into place. He tried to squirm away, the proximity obviously making him uncomfortable, but Clara held him still.

'There, much better now.'

'Thanks,' he mumbled.

* * *

It was Clara's turn to drive, and she was finding the Doctor's inability to sit still very distracting.

'Are we going to stop soon?'

'We just started driving. We're not stopping until noon.'

'Noon?!'

'We're driving all the way to New York, and we didn't exactly make good time with you driving yesterday. We can't stop unless its necessary.'

'Well when it's my turn to drive again, I'm going to stop a lot. I can't handle this!'

'Eat a biscuit or something. What, do I need get out the colouring books?'

'You bought colouring books?!'

'I was being sarcastic. Find something to entertain yourself. Not my job, I'm trying to drive.'

'Can we play a game?'

'Sure. But not I spy, I'm tired of that game.'

'Let's play Truth or Dare!'

'You can't play that when driving! What sort of dares could you even do?'

'That's the challenge. You can go first.'

Clara sighed, but didn't protest, because it might be fun. 'Okay, truth or dare?'

'Truth.'

'What's one thing you've always wanted to do, but never done?'

'Settle down for a bit.'

'What, like house, work, family, the lot?'

'Yes. Just for a bit to see what it would be like.'

'Well, that's not the sort of thing you can do "for a bit."'

'I know, that's why I've never done it!'

She nodded. It made sense.

'So, truth or dare?'

'Um...truth.'

'Hmm...what is...' he asked it slowly, as if he was going to ask her to reveal a terrible secret. To be honest, she got a little nervous. 'What is your favourite kind of dog?'

'What, is that all? Hmm, I don't know. I like big, fluffy dogs I guess. Truth or dare?'

'Dare.'

'I dare you...to sit completely still for two whole minutes. Starting now, and I'm watching the clock. Also, you can't talk.'

'What!'

'Starting now, so better not say anything.'

He glared at her, but didn't move or speak. For the first fifteen seconds, he was doing good, but then he started shaking, almost imperceptibly. By thirty, he already looked ready to burst. By one minute, he was trembling so hard and looked so tense that Clara told him that one minute was good enough.

'Oh thank you Clara! I don't know how much longer I could have done that! I can move, see?' He flailed his limbs about to prove his point, then leaned over and kissed Clara on the nose, almost causing her to swerve off the road. He apologised.

'No, don't apologise.'

'Truth or dare?'

'Dare.'

'I dare you to sing "I'm a little teapot" three times.'

'You come up with the weirdest things.'

'I'm waiting.'

'Ugh, fine.' She sang it three times. 'Truth or Dare?'

'Truth.'

'Who was the most recent girl you liked?'

'Wha-what? Like as in, before whoever I like now or as in right now, currently?'

'I don't know, do you like someone now?'

'No, I mean, I didn't say that, I just want to be clear what you mean.'

'Yes, whoever you liked most recently. Which includes right now.'

'Well...I like lots of people.'

'You know how I mean.'

'I'd rather not say.'

'Fine then, I'll have to figure out something worse as a punishment.'

'Okay, what?'

'What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?'

'Clara, I've lived for over a thousand years! So many things have happened to me, how do you expect me to narrow it down?'

'Good point. Recent history then.'

'Victorian London. I accidentally told a girl to take her clothes off.'

'How do you accidentally tell someone to take their clothes off ?'

'Well, I didn't mean it like that. I meant...because she'd gotten her bustle stuck and I had to pull her out of a window and then she fell on top of me and I said that...This sounds really bad.'

'I understand, I do.'

'Eh?'

'What?'

'Nothing. Never mind.'

* * *

**Aaaaannnnnddd abrupt ending! Sorry, got lazy at the end. There will definitely be a part three. Also: I'm pretty sure the truth or dare thing has probably been done, but I thought it would be fun. Hope this is okay. Nothing makes me happier than getting reviews from you guys, and it only takes a second! So tell me what you think. **


	14. Road Trip Part 3

**Sorry for the lack of update, just as I was about to update I suddenly felt very sick and decided against it. But I'm updating now! I'm actually already tired of this road trip business (I know, I'm fickle, just the other day was I saying I loved it) so I'm going to try to wrap it up as nicely as possible and move on to other things.**

* * *

When they finally stopped for lunch, the Doctor practically jumped out of the van. They were at a rest stop with toilets and a picnic table. Clara headed straight for the former, and when she came back, she saw the Doctor had already begun scrounging for food in the van.

After lunch, they walked around a little bit, because the Doctor was not ready to get back into that car.

'You know, I'm really enjoying this,' he said. 'We should do this more often.'

'What, you mean you don't mind travelling the normal way? I thought you were bored out of your mind.'

'But this is kind of nice. Just slowing down...with you.'

She smiled and slipped her hand quietly into his.

'You know, Clara...I enjoy travelling with you.'

'Obviously, otherwise you'd have kicked me out by now.'

'No, I don't just mean that...it's not just the travelling. It's...well, you. I enjoy _you._'

They had stopped walking, and she turned to face him. She wasn't quite sure what to say.

'I was very lonely, until I met you,' he said quietly. She was never quite sure what to do with him, during those moments where he was serious and sad and she remembered how old he was, how much loss he must have seen. She never knew what she should say. But she had one idea of what to do.

Slowly, she stepped closer to him and looked up into his eyes, bringing her hands up to rest on his shoulders. She raised herself on tiptoe, careful and slow, waiting for him to flinch and jump away, but he did neither. She felt his hands clasp her waist and he bent down slightly, and soon their lips touched and her arms moved to circle his neck, his grasp on her waist tightening and she felt him smile. They got so wrapped up in it that they didn't notice the sound or any change underfoot, but suddenly the blazing light of the desert sun was gone and it was darker. Breaking apart, they realised that they were in the TARDIS.

'The old cow!' Clara exclaimed. 'She did that on purpose!'

'Did what on purpose?'

'Appeared around us! She would have made us drive all the way to New York but just when...' she stopped.

'Just when what?'

Clara didn't usually feel embarrassed quite like this. That was the Doctor's job, being embarrassed and awkward with these sorts of things. She felt herself blushing and she couldn't control it, but she could make her voice sound steady, she could put on that cheeky smile. 'Just when things were getting so...interesting.'

'Well...' She could hear him swallow audibly, but he managed to bravely meet her eye. He stepped forward and put his hands back onto her waist. They felt so right there; she felt so secure. He leaned so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face. 'Well, who says things can't be interesting inside the TARDIS?'

'Will she be upset?'

'Nah.'

They kissed again, this time more passionately. Very suddenly, however, Clara was cold. And very wet. And Doctor-less. And underwater. She gasped and her lungs filled with water. Hastily surfacing and gagging, she saw that she was in the pool. A holographic projection appeared in front of her, a sort of screen with words on it.

_Hello, Clara Oswald. It occurred to me that you never did finish your swim the other day. I thought you might like to now._

* * *

**Aaaaannnnnndddd we end with the TARDIS being an old cow. Sorry, I really wanted to wrap this up. Hey, I gave you two Whouffle kisses (which, admittedly, I didn't write very well) so you should be grateful! I'm going to do another chapter because I've got a prompt I've been itching to do. Reviews? Please? I'm giving you a face. Can you see it? Can you see my face? Ohhh wait, you can't. Well still, Reviews?**


	15. Baby

**Hello everyone! I got this prompt from a guest called TARD1S. "You should do chapter where the Doctor and Clara have to babysit a baby and Clara sees how good he is with kids and they can be all cute and stuff." I love the idea, and know it's been done, but I'm going to put my own (slightly weird, as usual) twist on it. **

* * *

'We're almost there, Clara! Come on! Look, she's opened the doors for us!'

'I...can't...run...any...more...'

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, and the TARDIS doors shut behind them just before those angry whatever-the-Doctor-had-called-thems could get through.

'You...' Clara said, glaring at him as they both tried to catch their breath. 'Why...do you have...to be so...clumsy?'

'Me?! This is is _my _fault?!' He'd already regained his breath. Clara didn't know if it was because he was an alien or more used to running or both, but he always seemed to recover sooner than she did after their narrow escapes. '_You -_ You were the one who flirted with an alien.'

'I didn't - I thought it was human! And not married! And anyway, I almost had that ironed out when you had to come along and spill your drink on it!'

'Yeah, probably didn't help matters.'

'No. It didn't.'

'Still, just a small disagreement.'

'Small disagreement?! It summoned its entire clan to...whatever it said about bringing the great fires of judgement around our heads in all the intense fury of the whatsits -'

'The Gtasrvidsr.'

'Yeah, whatsits. Anyway, whatever it was and whatever that speech they made, it definitely was not a small disagreement!'

'Oh, the Gtasrvidsr. All talk, that lot. They probably wouldn't have followed through.'

'Probably?!

'Possibly not.'

'Possibly not? Doctor! They would have killed us, wouldn't they?'

'Well we're safe now, eh?'

'I guess. Care for some tea?'

'Oh, yes please!'

They started out of the console room, when they heard a small cry. They both froze.

'What was that sound?' Clara hissed, trying not to move.

'It...well it's...it was...'

'You don't know, do you?' She tried to keep her voice at a whisper, but it was getting difficult as the hysteria was rising inside of her.

'Well...no.'

They heard another noise. A gurgling.

'Something's. Got. In.'

'Yes, Clara. I think we're pretty clear on that. Get behind me. If it's one of the Gtasrvidsr they'll want revenge.'

Clara needed no further encouragement to get behind him, and quickly. Her knees felt weak. If one of those was in the TARDIS, they were doomed.

The Doctor slowly started creeping forward, towards where the noise was coming from, which was next to the console, on the side facing the door.

'Doctor! Come back here!'

He turned and put a finger to his lips. Of course he wasn't going to listen, Clara thought, stifling a sigh of exasperation. He got down on his hands and knees and peeked around the console.

And then, he laughed.

Clara ran quickly to his side. 'What's so funny?'

'It's a baby, Clara!' He picked it up to show her. It was a baby, and a very small one. It was partially asleep, but slowly waking up, and fussing a bit.

Clara slowly sat down next to him, by the console, and took the baby from his arms, because however kind and sweet he could be, she didn't trust those clumsy limbs with something so delicate. She rocked it gently. 'How'd it get in?'

'I have no idea! It's impossible!'

'It'll be wanting its mum pretty soon, once it wakes up.'

He held out his arms. 'Can I hold it?'

Clara clutched it protectively against her chest. 'You can't even apologise to someone without spilling your drink on them! How do you expect me to let you hold an infant?!'

'I'm actually quite good with babies, let me show you.'

She eyed him warily, but handed it over. 'Five minutes and your turn is up.'

The Doctor held it with surprising gentleness and experience. Clara remembered him saying something about his granddaughter once, on their first adventure. Of course, he must have held lots of babies. Still, she watched over carefully.

The baby began to stir in the Doctor's arms.

'Look,' Clara said, voice barely above a whisper. 'It's waking!'

The baby woke but, surprisingly, didn't fuss, staring in wonder at the Doctor, making small noises. 'Don't call her an it, Clara. She's a girl.'

'How can you tell?'

'Well...'

'I mean - don't answer that. I meant, how do you know when it's all wrapped up like that?'

'She told me.'

'Don't be ridiculous!'

'No, really. She doesn't like being called an it. No, no, no, her nose isn't funny, be nice.'

'What?!'

'Oh, she was just commenting on your nose.' He looked down at the baby. 'It isn't nice to comment on people's noses.'

'Hang on - what are you doing?'

'Oh, I speak baby.'

'No, seriously though.'

'Yes, seriously.'

'You're being weird.'

The baby made a noise, and the Doctor pointed a finger at it. 'Oi!'

'She agrees with me, doesn't she?'

'That's it. Next time she's mean about your nose, I'm not going to scold her for it.'

The baby made another sound, and the Doctor made an offended noise as his hand shot up to his chin.

'Ha, looks like my nose isn't the only funny facial feature around here.'

'Shut up, both of you!'

Clara laughed, and she swore the baby laughed too. Then she realised it had been five minutes. 'Okay, time's up. It's my turn.'

The Doctor reluctantly handed the baby over. 'Be careful with it.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I'm a nanny.'

'Right. Sorry.'

She cradled it and smiled down at it, making silly faces and noises.

'She thinks that's silly, you know.'

'That's the point. She's laughing, isn't she?'

'Well, yes.'

'See, I don't need to speak baby. No I don't! No I don't!' she cooed, while the baby made delighted little noises. It was a beautiful baby, with soft brown hair that flopped a little to the right side, and big, round brown eyes. 'Wonder who she belongs to,' Clara said softly.

'It's funny, she looks a little like you with her eyes.'

'Her hair looks like yours.'

They sat there awkwardly for a moment, avoiding each others eyes as the implications of what they had just said hit them both at the same time.

'Well, anyway,' the Doctor said hastily. 'My turn!'

'Fine.' She handed the baby back over. 'That's not fair. It went by too fast.'

'You can have her in another five minutes. Besides, she clearly likes me better.'

'No, _clearly_ she likes me better.'

The baby made a noise and the Doctor's eyes widened. He put his ear closer, as if he hadn't heard right. 'Eh?' The baby repeated the sound. He laughed nervously. 'No, no she's not your mum.'

'What?!'

'I don't know, she said she likes us both the same but...well that you _are_ her mum.'

'That's silly. I've never had a baby.'

'Yes, probably just look like her mum. I mean, there are a lot of girls out there with brown eyes and brown hair, right?'

'Right.'

The baby was still making sounds and the Doctor gasped. 'I'm not...that would mean...no I'm not. Stop that, you're just a baby, you don't know what you're talking about.'

'What's she saying now?' Clara asked, eyeing the Doctor suspiciously.

'Nothing. Just baby babble.'

'You answered, though. You aren't what?'

'She thinks...that I'm...her dad.'

Clara's eyes nearly popped out of her head. 'But...but if she thinks I'm her mum, and you're her dad, then that means -'

'No, just silly baby babble.

'Yeah, just silly baby babble. We probably just look like her parents.'

The baby gurgled and smiled. 'Oi! Stop that right now!'

'What'd she say?'

'She said she wouldn't mistake this chin anywhere. Cut that out!' The baby was playfully poking at his chin.

'Okay, my turn, while you look for some clue as to where she came from and how to find her parents.' She took the baby from him.

'Oh right, she was in a basket. Maybe there's something there...' As he spoke, he twisted himself around and reached back for the basket. 'Oooh! There's a note in here! Well that's handy, eh?'

'What does it say,' Clara asked, without taking her eyes off the baby. She felt oddly maternal about it, even though she told herself it was just because of the silly ideas the baby had put in her head, about her being the mum.

'Uh, Clara?'

'Yeah?'

'You should probably see this.'

She traded him, baby for note. She glanced over it, gasped, and read it again, three more times, still not able to comprehend what she was reading.

_Hello Doctor and Clara,_

_I found your baby and knew you'd be anxiously looking for her, and thankfully the TARDIS was nearby. You two weren't here, though. Probably off looking for her. I know she'll be safe here, so I'm leaving her with this note. I only hope this comes at the right point in your timelines, otherwise that might get a little weird._

* * *

**Who left the note? Doesn't matter really, one of the Doctor's friends obviously, you can pick who you'd like it to be or make someone up. Hehe, just another weird random story. Also, you can make up your own adventure where they take the baby back to the its rightful time in your own imagination, because I'm not going to continue this here. Just so you know, as always, I'm accepting prompts! Thank you TARD1S, that was really fun! **


	16. Thank You

**Hello! I skipped a couple of updates, I'm sorry. I skipped on the 50th like I said I was going to in my other fic, and again the next day because I was lazy. But I'm updating now! Also, I'll be updating my other fic very soon, I just am a little stuck-ish. **

***************_SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE 50TH!_*************************

* * *

The Doctor walked back into the TARDIS to find Clara standing by the console.

'Nice time with your painting?'

His emotions were such that he couldn't even speak, so instead, he ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her, spinning her as he had done earlier that day, and then just holding her for a moment.

She laughed. 'What's all this?'

He set her down, but he kept his hands on her waist, wanting to keep her near him. She let hers rest on his shoulders. 'Oh Clara! The title is "Gallifrey Falls No More."'

Her eyes widened. 'But that means...'

'Yes! It does! It so completely does!'

'You clever boy. All...three of you.'

'No, no, _you_! You are the whole reason! Don't you see? _You_ made me stop. _You_ made me think about what I was going to do. _You_ stopped me from making the worst mistake of my life for a second time. I don't think I would have been able to live with that decision twice. It was you, Clara. You saved me again.'

'No, honestly, it wasn't anything. That idea of yours...I would never have come up with that.'

'It was. It was something. You reminded me who I am, Clara. And I have no idea how to thank you for that.'

'How about like this?' She stood on her tiptoes and leaned in to kiss him, but he gently pushed her back down.

She looked confused, blushed, muttered an apology, and started to turn away. He turned her back towards him.

'No, don't apologise. It wasn't that. It's just, it's always _you_ kissing _me._ Just this once, just for the hell of it, let _me_ kiss _you_.' He pulled her towards him, and he kissed her. It was the only way to tell her how grateful he felt, not just for what she did that day or at Trenzalore, but for all the small things she did. For always knowing.

When they absolutely had to, they broke apart. They smiled at each other for a moment or two.

'You know,' Clara said. 'You _did_ promise me a week in ancient Mesopotamia, followed by cocktails on the moon.'

'Good memory.'

'So, what are you waiting for?'

He flipped switches and pressed buttons, but he noticed Clara's face change to a thoughtful and slightly frowny one.

'Something wrong?'

'Sorry...I just realised: I watched you marry Queen Elizabeth the first.'

'Yes. So you did.' He looked at her questioningly.

'So that's the second time I've met one of your wives.'

'Oh...yes. Well, you know, that was a long time ago.'

'Nice to know you treat your marriages so lightly,' she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 'I'll remember that.'

'Oi! I was trapped into that! I didn't know that was the queen! I thought she was a Zygon!'

Clara made a disgusted face. 'I'm not judging you.'

He turned red. 'No, no! I didn't - never mind. Why will you remember that?'

Now it was Clara's turn to blush. 'Just, you know, good thing to remember.'

'Well, remember this also then: when people are important to me, I don't treat anything involving them at all lightly.'

'I know you don't. I've seen that, loads of times. That's what makes you the Doctor.'

He smiled at her. She always made him feel good.

'So! Mesopotamia! Right outside those doors. You'll need to get out of those clothes though.'

Clara raised her eyebrows. 'I didn't want to go _that_ far back in history.'

'_And_ put new ones on! I was going to add that. Why do you always go taking things the wrong way?'

'Because it's so fun to fluster you. Come on then, to the wardrobe.'

'No, thanks, I'm satisfied with this.' He straightened his bowtie. 'You go right on ahead.'

Clara grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the corridor. 'Come _on. _You can't go bumbling about in ancient Mesopotamia looking like that!'

He protested as she dragged him all the way to the wardrobe, straight for the ancient civilisations.

'So, what time period are we in?' she asked.

'Early Mesopotamia,' he said, still pouting because he really did not want to change out of his suit, which he was quite comfortable in. 'This section here.' He pointed. There were only a few clothes in that section.

'Not a great selection.'

'There wasn't a lot of variety. Which is why I'm quite happy as I am, thank you.'

Clara started looking through the clothes. 'Uh, Doctor?'

'What is it?'

'Um...we have a problem.'

'What? What is the problem?'

Clara held up a large woollen shawl.

'Very pretty.'

'No, you don't understand. This is all there is.'

'Oh. Did I go _that_ far back?'

'You most certainly did.'

'Ha! Well, that's too bad for you. _I'm _going to be wearing...' his voice trailed off as he surveyed his own clothing options.

A smile crept onto Clara's face. 'Problem, Doctor?'

'I think we're going to go forward a bit.'

'And why is that?' She had the most irritating and yet adorable smirk on her face, and the Doctor briefly thought of kissing her again.

'Because I don't feel like wearing nothing but a loincloth.' He led her down the rack a couple of steps as she laughed. 'Here we are. Decency has been invented now.'

Clara pulled out a fringed skirt with a geometric pattern and a shawl. 'Again with the shawl, but at least I get a skirt this time.'

'And_ I_ get...a skirt too.'

She laughed. 'Can't wait to see you in a skirt. Should be interesting.'

'Oh. Haha very funny. Laugh all you want. Because I happen to look very good in a skirt.'

'I'll have to see it to believe it.'

'And you will.' He stormed off behind a screen and started to undress, laying his proper clothes gently over top.

After a bit, he heard Clara say, 'Um, Doctor?'

'Yes?'

'Did they, you know, wear anything under their clothing?'

'No, actually. Afraid not.'

'Is it okay if I do?'

'Well if you want to be anachronistic.' He was still upset about the bowtie, so he had an idea. 'But, _if_ you do, then I get to wear my bowtie.'

'With your Mesopotamia clothes?'

'Yes. You'll be wearing stuff under your Mesopotamia clothes.'

'Fine. I won't then.'

Then he realised what he had done. Now Clara wasn't going to be wearing any undergarments - definitely not what he had been going for. He blushed at the very thought, and then blushed even more to think what she must be thinking of him. 'Actually, you know what? Maybe being anachronistic is okay and maybe I won't wear my bowtie and you can go right on ahead and keep your anachronistic undergarments. Anachronisms are cool. No need to stoop to primitive indecency. So you can just go ahead and...'

'Too late, already changed. Are you about done?'

He'd been done for a while; he was only waiting for her to be done too so that he could come out. He stepped out, trying not to look at Clara's clothes on the floor, but failing to miss two lacy articles in particular. He hastily looked at Clara to avoid looking there again. She was quite beautiful in her ancient clothes. He should take her to ancient civilisations more often, he thought.

'Well then, Clara. Let's go and see ancient Mesopotamia, shall we?' He took her hand and led her out of the wardrobe, feeling very self-concious in his skirt. Clara was staring at it and giggling.

'Oi, that is enough!'

'Sorry, you look great, really you do. You should wear skirts more often.'

'No thank you.'

'So...are you being anachronistic then?'

'Eh?'

'You know what I'm talking about.'

'Oh...well...I just thought...since you weren't - I mean not because of you at all, it had nothing to do with you, but you know I just...no. I'm not.'

She laughed and he felt himself blushing even more. Why did she always do this to him?

'Anyway, Mesopotamia, outside those doors. Are you ready, Clara?'

She nodded.

He opened the TARDIS doors to a thriving, bustling city. They wandered about a bit in the marketplace, and the Doctor could tell that Clara was enjoying herself. He, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly uncomfortable thinking about the clothing situation. When a breeze came up and started teasing the hem of Clara's skirt, he couldn't take it any more.

'Okay, that was lovely wasn't it? Time to go back in the TARDIS. I promised you cocktails. On the moon, wasn't it? So, let's go and change into something else and then we can have those cocktails on the moon. Yes. Come on.' He grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the TARDIS.

'But you said a _week_ in ancient Mesopotamia.'

He couldn't even think what a week would do to him. They hadn't even been here an hour and he was going mad. 'Did I? That's rubbish. Who would want to stay here a week? No, the moon is much better. You'll love it there, and then I'll find some place else to take you.'

He could hear her behind him, giggling.

She knew.

She always knew.

He returned to the screen to put his regular clothes back on, and Clara wandered off through the rest of the wardrobe. When he was done changing, he went back to the console room to wait for her. She seemed to be taking an awfully long time. And then, there she was, wearing a very small red dress.

She smiled coyly. 'Thought I should dress up a bit.'

'You...um...you look lovely...' he mumbled, trying to look somewhere that wasn't Clara.

'Thank you.'

They enjoyed cocktails on the moon, like the Doctor had promised, sitting on a picnic blanket.

'Clara?'

'Yes, Doctor?'

'Thank you.' He kissed her again, as he had done earlier.

'What for?' She asked.

'For being my impossible girl.'

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**Yelch, soppiness. Sorry. Reviews? Oh, and I'll try to get that next chapter on the other one up. **


	17. Clara's Classroom

**It feels like I haven't updated this one in forever! Has it been forever? I don't know. Well anyway, I had this idea and thought I should update. This is a very teeny spoiler for the 50th. Use discretion. **

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'All right, class,' Clara said, standing up from behind her desk as the last of her students trickled in. 'We're continuing with Shakespeare today. So if you would take out your books please...'

Her voice trailed off as she heard that familiar coughing, groaning sound and papers began to swirl. The students looked at each other in confusion.

Clara groaned. 'No way. I'm going to kill him!'

And there it was: the TARDIS standing proudly in front of her classroom. The Doctor appeared, and without noticing the class, ran over to Clara and threw his arms around her, kissing her on the forehead.

'Hello Clara! Thought I'd pick you up here today! So, you mentioned that you've been doing Shakespeare and I thought maybe you'd like to -'

She cleared her throat and gestured towards the students. The Doctor slowly turned and saw them.

'Oh! Hello Clara's class. Oooh, Clara's class. Now that is an example of alliteration!' He turned and grinned at Clara. 'See? Taught them something right there! Alliteration! Nice word, alliteration. The repetition of a letter at the beginning of multiple words. I could be a teacher! Matter of fact, I was a teacher once. Physics...'

All of the students were staring in shock. Between the weird box and the very weird man who came out of it, it was a lot to take in. Finally, a girl in the front row named Anna managed to say, 'Who is this?'

Clara, in her best teacher-voice, stretched on a smile and said, 'Class, this is John Smith, my...'

'Boyfriend! I'm your lovely teacher's boyfriend.'

'Yes. My boyfriend. And that box was...'

'A magic trick! Not a spaceship or a time machine and most certainly not both. Or bigger on the inside, _or _smaller on the outside -'

Clara gave him a look which promptly silenced him.

Several bold individuals had already gotten out of their seats and were inspecting the box.

'Please sit down,' Clara said. She couldn't help thinking of all the ways she would kill the Doctor when this was over.

Not one of them listened to her, and more joined in.

The Doctor was getting nervous with all of them around his TARDIS. 'Oi! Stop touching the windows, you'll leave prints! No, no, no! Step back, please! She won't like so many of you swarming her, she's bound to get huffy!'

'Who's bound to get huffy?' It was the same girl from earlier, Anna. Clara liked Anna. She was inquisitive and clever. But today, neither of those qualities were helpful.

'Who? Who indeed...um...Clara! That is, Miss Oswald to you. Yes. Miss Oswald doesn't like people touching the box. So if you would all step away...'

'But why? It's just a box.'

'I've seen something like this before, in a book,' a boy, Peter, said. 'This is a police box. From the sixties.'

'Yes. It's a police box. Just an ordinary police box. Nothing else to it.'

Anna was opening the doors, and, unfortunately, for unknown reasons, the TARDIS wasn't locking her out.

'Oi!' the Doctor shouted, rushing forward, but too late. Clara held her breath. She was just getting started here, and she liked it. Now here was an inexplicable circumstance which was sure to end in her losing her job. The Doctor didn't quite reach Anna in time, and for some reason the TARDIS still wasn't stopping her. She opened it and stuck her head in, letting out a small gasp just before the Doctor pulled her quickly back.

'What was inside?' the others asked eagerly.

Anna shrugged. 'Nothing. Just a box, like they said.'

Clara and the Doctor glanced at each other in confusion, but when the others weren't looking, Anna smiled and winked at them. Clara wasn't sure whether to be relieved that Anna was going to keep quiet for now, or to dread the conversation they were sure to have later.

Everyone drifted back to their seats, satisfied that it was just a box.

'So...why is he here?' A girl named Kathy.

'Because...' Clara looked at the Doctor for help.

'Well didn't you tell them?'

Clara looked at him blankly. Obviously he was trying to get her to play along with something, but she didn't know what.

'No? Did you forget? How could you forget? Remember? You asked me to come as a sort of guest speaker and present to them about Shakespeare...'

Oh no. Watch him pop back inside the box and come back with the Bard himself. Clara hoped he had sense enough not to do that, and had to place the continued existence of her job on that hope.

But she played along. 'Oh, sorry. How could I have forgot? Class, Mr Smith -'

'Dr Smith, please, Clara.'

'_Dr _Smith - sorry - is quite the authority on Shakespeare...'

'Bit of a hobby of mine, when I'm not doing, you know, doctor-y things.'

'Today, he's come to talk all about Shakespeare's life and work with you. I'm sure he knows even more about him than I do, and he has an interesting way of putting things which I am confident you will enjoy.'

'So, Miss Oswald will go to the back of the room to mark papers or just read a book and relax, because I have this under control.' He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but beam back at him.

'Thank you,' she mouthed, as she retreated to the back of the room with an armful of papers to mark. She knew that his showing up in her classroom had been a bit of an accident, but he certainly didn't have to do this. He could have made an excuse and disappeared to pick her up later. But this was him being nice, doing something nice for her so that she could catch up on things. She had an enormous stack of essays to mark, and she was so happy to have a chance to get started on them now.

As she worked, she could hear the class laughing and participating in an animated manner. It took a lot to get this classroom of fifteen and sixteen year olds excited about Shakespeare, as Clara knew all too well, but he had done it. She bit back a smile as she watched him act out part of a scene, playing three different characters all at once. A few minutes later he was hastily scrawling a representation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the board, and then he was detailing the events of Shakespeare's life. He was all over the place, but they seemed to be following it. And enjoying it, which was most important, because Clara knew that this rapid-fire information wouldn't stick with them. But the excitement they felt was something that they would remember.

Before long, the students were pouring out, some lingering to ask the Doctor a question, and one or two giggling girls lingering for less academic reasons. Clara rolled her eyes. She wondered how they would react to find out that he was some 1200 plus years.

When the last of them had finally gone, Clara straightened her stack of papers and looked up to see that he had cleaned the board and was now rearranging her desk-drawers. Making her way to the front of the room, she said, 'Find anything interesting?'

He jumped. 'Just organising for you. I've optimised your already well-functioning system to save even more time and energy for you that you might otherwise spend looking for things needlessly. See, you already have things sorted by type and function, writing utensils in one drawer with the pens and pencils separated, worksheets in another which are on paper that is colour-coded - very smart by the way - tape and staples and paper clips in another drawer, etc. But I thought if you -'

'Doctor?'

'Yes?'

'Thank you. It was nice to have a break. And also for...whatever you're doing with my desk drawers.'

'You are so welcome, Clara. I had a lot of fun. Though I probably should warn you that you might be getting some odd calls from parents.'

'And why is that?'

'Well aside from the magic appearing box, I _might_ - before you get angry, let me put the emphasis on might because it was very brief and a few of them might have missed it anyway and I'm not admitting to anything.'

'What did you do?'

'ImighthavesaidImetShakespeareonce.'

'What? Can't understand you.'

'I _may_ have _possibly_ mentioned _very briefly_ to them that I met Shakespeare at one point in time.'

'What?!'

'I'm sorry! It's a great thing to be able to brag about! And that awful Greg had to realise that I know far more than he does about Shakespeare because I knew him.'

'Oh, Doctor. If I get any calls from parents, I'm going to tell them that you were shortly hereafter taken to a mental hospital, and I had no way of knowing about your insanity until now.'

'Fair enough. I've always said that I'm a madman with a box.'

'Speaking of which, I'm going to have some interesting conversations with Anna, I'm sure. That girl is already far too clever for her own good.'

He smiled. 'You're proud of them, aren't you?'

'I am, yes. They're wonderful, all of them.'

'And you like your new job?'

'Yes, which is why I hope to keep it.'

'Oh don't worry, I promise I'll never materialise in your classroom again, even if I think you're done teaching. I just thought people might be getting worried about you, with your doctor calling so often...'

'Tell you what? Meet me in my flat every day. I'll clear a space for the TARDIS in my lounge. Then, when I come home, you'll be there waiting.'

'Do you mean it?'

'Course I mean it.'

'That would be so..._domestic._ Waiting in a flat for you to get off work.'

'What's wrong with domestic?'

'Nothing.' Struck with sudden boldness, he swiftly pulled her in to kiss her. It wasn't a long kiss, but it was one of the bravest things he had ever done. 'I think I'll enjoy it.'

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**So...yes that is all. Tell me what you think, please. *turns into Dalek* You will review! Review! REVIEW!**


	18. Mischief

**Hello! I got a great prompt from NancyBoy.87 and I think it's an adorable idea: "I want a follow-up of him pottering about her flat, finding she has a pet cat or a puppy or something, they get into mischief that he then has to tidy up before she walks through the door..." So here it is. It's a continuation of the last chapter but it should contain even less spoilers than that one (which isn't a lot). Still, use discretion. **

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'Hello Clara! I'm here to pick you up! We're going to have the greatest time! I've found the most wonderful planet to take you to and...you're not home, are you?'

He looked around Clara's empty flat. It was small but very neat and very Clara. He smiled at her over-flowing bookshelf. She obviously needed a bigger one, and he decided that he would surprise her with one next time he came. He strode about the room, flipping through books, looking at the pictures on the wall. He smiled to see her _101 Places to See _book sitting on the coffee table. He looked at the clock. She should be home in two hours. Two hours? He could try to skip ahead but short jumps were hard, and he wanted to be here waiting when Clara got home, like he said he would. He was going to be responsible and reliable. He grinned to himself. He liked the sound of those words. So he'd wait here.

Something brushed against his foot and he pulled out his sonic defensively, scrambling backwards and pointing it around. And then he saw it. It was a black ball of fur, with great big eyes and a moist little nose that it was twitching curiously. The Doctor stepped forward very cautiously and scanned it with his sonic. It was just a puppy.

'How did you get in here?'

The dog whined.

'Don't play games with me. You're not Clara's dog. Clara would have told me if she got a dog.'

It gave him a puppy grin.

'Oi! Of course Clara tells me everything!' Then he noticed something. 'Oooh, look. You've got a tag on your collar. Let's see who you _really _ belong to, eh?' He picked the squirming puppy up and looked at the collar.

It said 'Doc' as the Dog's name and had a number that he recognised as Clara's.

'Doc?! Doc?! Doc as in Doctor?! She named her dog after me and didn't tell me about it?! That's really rude!'

The dog licked him in the face.

'Oi! Stop that! You and I are not friends!' He dropped it on the sofa, wiping his hands on his jacket. 'Now, you're going to stay right there and I'm going to explore.'

The dog made a low grumbling noise.

'Of course she won't mind! She'd want me to have a look around.'

The dog cocked its head.

'Yes she would! She would. And I don't take advice from a puppy.' He went into the kitchen, rummaging in cupboards for something to eat. Clara wouldn't mind if he ate something, and he was hungry. He smiled when he found an unopened package of Jammie Dodgers. Just what he wanted.

With a handful of Jammie Dodgers, he went back to the lounge to make sure that Doc was still there. He wasn't.

'Doc? Where did you go?'

Well now he absolutely _had_ to have a look around. Had to find Doc. Couldn't let him get into mischief and hurt himself, now could he? He turned, but as he did so he bumped into a table that jutted out into the tiny entryway, knocking a vase to the floor. It broke, sending bits of glass, water, and soggy flowers all over the floor.

'Clara won't like that,' he mourned, staring at the broken mess. Just then, he heard another crash and went to find that Doc had somehow managed to sneak into the kitchen and saw that he had knocked the bin over and was happily gnawing on a bone of some kind.

'Bad dog! Clara's going to kill us! We're destroying her flat and I've only been here for ten, twenty minutes!

Doc looked unconcerned and ignored him.

'I'm going to go find something to clean up this mess. You stay put, do you hear? Now, let's see...' He thought perhaps under the bathroom sink would be a good place to look, but he passed Clara's bedroom on the way and froze. The door was slightly open and it really looked to be a very inviting room. He knew that he probably should not be going in there, but he couldn't resist just having a quick look. And Clara wouldn't mind...

He slowly walked in. It was in slight disarray from Clara getting ready that morning. There were some clothes on the floor that he was frightened to look at, and make-up scattered all along the top of her dresser. Her bed looked comfy and he tentatively sat on it, bouncing slightly. Then he realised that this was where Clara slept and blushed, jumping to his feet. Doc wandered into the room.

'I was _not_ snooping! I was testing the bed. Must be sure it's good enough for Clara. Can't let Clara be sleeping in an inferior bed.'

The Doctor did not like Doc's reply.

'I - I have no idea if my own bed is good enough for Clara. I wouldn't think she would ever...happen to find herself there so...'

He gasped at what Doc said next. He was getting really tired of Doc's comments. And such an innocent looking puppy, too.

'Right, cleaning supplies. Got to find the cleaning supplies,' he said quickly, ending the conversation. He located Clara's bathroom sink and started rummaging about under it. He had no idea what half of this stuff was even for, and some of it he was quite sure had nothing to do with cleaning. He felt Doc nudge him from behind.

'What? What is it now?' he asked, turning around.

Doc was holding a pair of Clara's knickers with a mischievous look on his face. The Doctor nearly had a heart attack.

'What's the point of wearing those at all if they're going to be that see-through?!' he yelped.

Doc swayed from side to side, letting the piece of clothing dangle teasingly.

'Put those back! Clara's going to think I was rummaging around in her..._intimate articles of clothing.'_

Doc didn't budge.

'Give them here, I'll go put them away.'

Doc cocked his head.

'Give them here!'

He reached out to take them, but Doc ran out of the room, stopping just outside the door to look tauntingly at the Doctor.

'Fancy a game of chase, eh? Well then, let's play.'

Doc ran off just as the Doctor reached him, dashing into the kitchen and under the table. The Doctor dropped to his hands and knees and scurried after him, but too late, because Doc was already running out from under. The Doctor backed out, standing up a little too soon and sending the things on the table clattering to the floor. Doc was no where to be seen.

'Oh no you don't!' the Doctor said, scanning the room with his eyes. 'You can't hide from me!'

Doc appeared in the kitchen doorway and swiftly disappeared again. He was definitely playing a game. Why did Clara keep this little monster? The Doctor chased him into the lounge, and he found it much easier to get down to the dog's level, so pretty soon they were both scampering around on their hands and knees. Doc ran circles around the coffee table, and the Doctor tried to follow but ended up bumping against the table. His exclamations of pain from the sharp corner digging into his side were interrupted when he noticed that all the little bits and bobs that had been on the table were now on the floor. Before he had time to pick it up, he noticed Doc over by the bookshelf. Cornered. Just sitting there.

A grin spread across his face and he lunged forward, colliding head first with the bookshelf, which spilled its contents on top of him.

'Caught you!' he said, but then realised his arms were empty. He turned to see Doc in the doorway of the lounge. That was it. Things just got serious.

He used furniture to barricade the doorways of both the kitchen and the lounge. Then he closed all doors in the house, leaving Doc cornered with nowhere to run. 'I'll take that,' said the Doctor, seizing the garment triumphantly. And then he heard someone fumbling with the door.

Clara!

He quickly soniced the lock. That should keep her out for a bit. Now to clean up this mess. He ran into the lounge and quickly dismantled his barricade. He put everything back on the coffee table as best he could and all but threw the books back onto the shelves. He ran through the entry and into the kitchen, and as he passed the door he could hear Clara getting frustrated.

He quickly set things to rights on the table and shoveled everything back into the bin. There was no way he was going to be able to clean up that vase, but at least he had made the rest of the flat somewhat presentable. Actually, he was rather pleased with himself. He straightened his bowtie.

_Responsible and reliable. That's me._

'Doctor? Are you in there? I can't open the door!' Clara shouted, and he could hear banging against it. 'I think it's jammed.'

'Oh, sorry.' He soniced it and it opened quickly, too quickly, causing Clara to fall forward and on top of him.

'Well. That's one way to greet one another,' she laughed.

'I met your dog,' he said, standing up and brushing himself off.

'Oh yeah. Doc.' The dog in question scampered over to greet Clara.

'You never told me you had a puppy!'

'I'm sorry, forgot to mention it.'

'But you always tell me things!'

'I named him after you, does that help?'

'That makes it _worse!_'

'Well anyway, I hope my two boys got along,' Clara said, sitting down to pet the puppy.

The Doctor and Doc glared at each other.

She looked up and noticed the mess on the floor. 'Oh! My vase!'

'It was him! He did it!' The Doctor pointed an accusing finger at Doc, who yelped.

'Was it now?' She stood up and started looking around. 'Everything else looks pretty good...Wow, I thought you'd be a lot more destructive. How long have you been here anyway?'

'Oh, just a few minutes,' he lied. He was embarrassed to tell her he'd spent two hours in her flat.

'Maybe that's why then. Well, good job. Except for one thing.'

'What?'

'Why are you holding a pair of my knickers?'

The Doctor had completely forgotten that he still had them. He'd meant to return them to Clara's room while he was cleaning up. He must have forgot.

He prepared himself for a lot of explaining.

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**I had to end it randomly and abruptly because I got really bored of writing and never know how to wrap things up. Reviews please?**


	19. Intertwined

**Hello everyone. I'm updating and for reasons I decided I couldn't write fluff just now, so this is going to be depressing. And written in a slightly different style because that's how I write depressing things. Almost stream-of-consciousness. You'll see what I mean.**

**Update on other fic will come eventually.**

**Should mention that this is sort of AU I guess.**

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He'd always known that Clara couldn't last forever. None of his companions ever did, and he never forgot it with any of them. But Clara was different, especially now he knew that she had always been there, running alongside him. She was so clever and always knew what he needed. His pretty, funny little Clara. It was so easy to forget.

Clara travelled with him always, no matter what was happening in her life. She started dating someone and she told the Doctor about him, but she didn't tell him about the Doctor. William, his name was. Nice bloke; not nice enough for Clara, the Doctor thought, when he happened to see him and Clara having dinner once. Not that he was spying. He was just making sure.

William made Clara happy, the Doctor could tell. She talked about him sometimes. But she kept travelling with the Doctor anyway, and her eyes still lit up whenever the Doctor showed her something. He couldn't help but notice that her eyes did not light up quite that way when talking about William.

And then William broke her heart.

The Doctor never did know exactly what happened, but Clara called him, crying, late one night. Said everything was ruined and she just wanted to die. He'd gotten there as quickly as he could and found Clara in her flat, a complete mess of tears. He pulled her close and comforted her, and she sobbed into his shirt the whole night through until she fell asleep and he sat with her on the sofa, to be there for her in case she woke up.

Whatever happened with William changed Clara for awhile. But she got over it, started dating again, and one day the Doctor missed a call from her and didn't check his messages. He jumped a bit too far ahead and found Clara with a beautiful baby girl. Married. She'd tried to tell the Doctor she was getting married two years ago, and he hadn't answered. He'd missed so much. He pretended to be happy, he held her baby and shook her husband's hand. He told Clara that she was a wonderful wife and mother, and he was proud of his old companion.

But his hearts broke.

He left and moped around the Universe for one hundred years. One hundred years, one new face, and three new companions and still those big brown eyes were burned into his hearts. He couldn't get over his Clara. He never would.

He returned to her, one long, lonely night when he was all alone, when his most recent companion had left him. And he found her asleep in an empty bed, with tissues littering its surface and spilling onto the floor. She was sleeping the deep sleep that grief induces, and lying next to her on the pillow was a picture of herself, a man, and a three year old girl.

He knew the TARDIS had chosen this time for a reason.

He crept to the side of her bed and touched her on the shoulder, gently. Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped when she saw him, somehow recognising him despite his different, older face, and she pulled him into the tightest of hugs. She sobbed and he rubbed comforting Gallifreyan words into her back, and he didn't speak or ask questions. She'd tell him when she could.

In the morning, over coffee at her table, she told him a story of how her husband had taken their little girl to visit his parents, and how she had to work and hadn't gone with them. The parents didn't live too very far away, just about an hour's drive. It was taking them a long time to get home, but her in-laws could be talkative, and she tried not to be worried. She told him of a drunken driver who had lost control, and a terrifying night spent in the hospital. The longest in her life. She told him how she'd lost her family in one terrible night's time. She told him how she was alone.

And he said, 'Let's see the stars.'

He took her to a quiet spot, in one of the far reaches of the Universe. He parked the TARDIS in the middle of space and they sat in the doorway, feet dangling, hands tightly intertwined. He wasn't the only one whose face was older. Clara was thirty-one, and beautiful still, but she had some lines on her face, and that hurt him, because she was slipping away and he'd missed so much of her. He hadn't wanted to miss one second. He was terrified to lose her, and he gripped her hand tightly.

They had some half-hearted adventures, and Clara's eyes lit up once or twice. But she was broken. She was not the same girl he had travelled with. She was not his impossible, souffle girl and she didn't even make souffles anymore. She said she'd given up on them. Her husband hadn't liked them.

One day she quietly asked to be taken home.

One more hundred years and too many companions to count. He was flying through them now, searching for whatever it was that he was missing. They didn't make companions like they used to. He'd had companions who could absorb the Time Vortex, walk the earth, become the most important woman in the universe, or just be his family when he needed family. And he'd had Clara, who had done far too much for him and who he loved. And now he just had people he took on a few trips and then took home. Had people changed, or had Clara changed him?

After it had been another hundred years and he could no longer take it, he went back for Clara. She was forty now. She had never married or dated since she lost her family. Angie and Artie would visit her sometimes, and she had gone back to teaching, which she had stopped doing when her baby was born. She said she wasn't lonely.

He knew differently. Lonely people know other lonely people.

He confessed to her how he'd tried to forget her, twice. He told her how she had ruined every new companion by the comparison to her. He confessed it all, except one thing. He didn't tell her he loved her. She obviously wasn't ready for that yet, not after the pain that loving had caused her. But he did ask her to come back. Permanently. Move into the TARDIS. And she said yes. She quit her job she sold her flat she said her goodbyes and she came away with him.

She would sometimes tell him she was glad his new face was older - she said she would feel ashamed of how old she'd gotten while he was away had he still looked like a clumsy teenager. To which he always replied that she was as beautiful as ever, maybe even a little bit more so, and he would kiss her. They kissed a lot these days. They'd been so leisurely when they were young, when they'd first started. They thought they had all the time in the world back then. But now they realised how fast it was all going. How fast Clara was going.

He didn't believe it when Clara turned fifty. They argued about it for quite some time, but she was right. It had been ten years and she was fifty. There wasn't much time left, he madly collected every moment he had with her, packing it all in, showing her everything he could think of and watching her grow older every day.

She'd been happier since they started travelling again. A lot of the old Clara had come back, although her experiences showed in her eyes now. Those eyes that used to be so young and full of dreams. Now they were sad a lot.

He sometimes asked her why. Why were her eyes so different now? At first, she would say that it was because of her losses. Then, she would say she was just feeling thoughtful. After a while, she told him that it was because she was thinking about how short her life was going to be, how small in relation to his. How pretty soon she would be gone and just a little memory, just perhaps a picture in a scrapbook, if he kept scrapbooks.

He would kiss her then, and tell her that she was one of the biggest people in his life. She was by no means small. He would almost say he loved her, but those words had always terrified him. And that never seemed to have been what she wanted of him, anyway. She only thought of him as a friend, he was certain.

And Clara got older and older. On her sixtieth birthday, they decided to stop keeping track of her age. It made them feel too frantic. It made them aware that they had so short a time left. She was frail now, with white hair, but still his Clara. Their adventures had stopped being adventures. No more saving of worlds, Clara couldn't handle that now. She was so feeble, so fragile. He would take her to quiet places he knew to be safe, where they would sit and talk. How they talked. They used to like companionable silence, but now there were too many things to be said.

They spent much time in the library, or in the kitchen, where Clara finally learned to make the perfect souffle, or in the TARDIS's greenhouse, gardening side by side. They tried their hand at bee-keeping and watercolours.

He used to think maybe he'd retire. He knew now that he wouldn't; Trenzalore was his grave. But maybe this was his retirement, these last years with Clara. A little pause in his life of saving the Universe. A time he would always treasure.

They madly took several scrapbooks' worth of photos, hours worth of video, collected boxes full of mementoes. Trying to build, trying to leave something behind of this time they were having.

One day Clara had a heart-attack. It was one of the worst days the Doctor ever went through. He took her to the best hospital in the Universe, and she recovered and came back to the TARDIS with him. But it was another reminder of how he had to act now.

He asked Clara to marry him after that, and she said yes. He wished he'd done it years and years ago, he should have had the bravery. They could have had a baby by now, several even, who could travel with him after their mother had gone. Somethings of Clara and somethings of him. He should have done it with his Eleventh self, immediately after Trenzalore, immediately after he knew how important she was and always would be. Back when they were young and she hadn't been hurt. He couldn't make up for it now, but they would try.

They had a very simple wedding, because neither of them had anyone to invite. It was just them, and they didn't mind that.

He kissed her over and over and told her how much he loved her, and she laughed and her eyes shone brighter than ever, and she told him she loved him too.

It happened that night, while they were asleep. The Doctor woke up and bid her goodmorning, rolling over to smile at her. There was no response, she was not breathing and her fragile human heart did not beat. She died with a ring on her finger and a bit of a smile playing around her lips.

The Doctor always knew that the people he took with him would die. But he had let himself forget at first with Clara, and he had remembered it too late. And his hearts had been broken.

He travelled with many others, all brilliant and wonderful in their own ways. He even fell in love again, once or twice. But it was never the same as it had been with Clara, in their young mad days or in their beautiful retirement they had shared, one of the brightest, most bittersweet spots in his life. When the Doctor's own time came at Trenzalore, his last thought was of her.

* * *

**I don't know, pure depressingness. **


	20. I Promise I'm Not Abandoing This!

**Just letting everyone know, I'm not abandoning this fic! I've just been a bit blocked. Any help? Also, I finally gave into tumblr. I held out for so long! If you wanna follow my blog, it may or may not help me to get these chapters up sooner! (no I'm not resorting to cheap bribery what are you even talking about?) There's a link on my profile. **

**No but seriously though, I really am going to be updating on both of my stories very soon, maybe tonight. **


	21. Pull to Open

**This was an anonymous prompt on Tumblr: **

**The Doctor and Clara land in 1939's England where there are lots of Police boxes around, and they accidentally get locked into one that is not the Tardis. :)xx**

**So I'll post it here too. **

* * *

'Doctor,' Clara said, panting to keep up with him as he dragged her along, 'you _do_ remember where you parked, yeah?'

'I…I think so.'

'You _think_ so?!'

'It's dark, Clara! Everything looks different now!'

'Do you even remember what street we were on? Because that might help.'

'I don't have time to keep track of things like that!'

'Well do you have time to wander around London in 1939 all night?'

'Don't worry, Clara. We're sure to find it.'

'I've seen an awful lot of those boxes. Are you sure none of them are the TARDIS?'

He scoffed. 'I think after over nine hundred years of piloting this ship, I can tell her apart from your average police box.'

'If you say so, Doctor.'

'Oh, there she is!' he pointed at a box up ahead and Clara breathed a sigh of relief as they ran towards it.

'I could really do with a book and some tea,' she said as they stepped inside and the Doctor closed the door. But it was completely dark, and it did not feel bigger on the inside. Clara was pushed up against something. It felt like a desk. 'Doctor?'

'I can't see a thing, but do you know what I think?'

'This isn't the TARDIS.'

'Exactly. Very observant of you.'

'Well open the door and let's get out of here! And get off my foot!' He was stepping on one of her feet.

'Ah, sorry.' She heard him jiggle the door. 'Clara?'

'What is it now?!'

'It won't open.'

'What do you mean it won't open?!' she was becoming very claustrophobic with the desk digging into her side and the Doctor just a hairbreadth in front of her.

'Well, it seems we're stuck here,' he said, almost cheerfully. 'It's not so bad.'

'Let's go over our definitions of bad. Because I think this constitutes bad. I can't even move!'

'Where are you anyway?'

'I'm right here, in front of you, see?' She poked him between his shoulderblades. 'Actually behind you.'

He made an attempt to turn around, accidentally pushing Clara uncomfortably against the wall.

'Doctor! Ouch, stay still!' She elbowed him.

He elbowed her back. 'I'm trying to turn around. There, see? Turned around. So, what do they have in here?'

'Well there's a desk, I know that much. And I think…' she felt around under the desk. 'Yes, a stool. Here.' She hopped up on the desk. 'You can have the stool.'

Her eyes had adjusted enough that she could see his vague outline take the stool and sit on it, muttering to himself as he tried to get comfortable.

She sighed. 'Problem?'

'It's not comfortable.'

'Neither is the desk.'

'Looks comfortable.'

'Fine! Hop up!' She patted the spot next to her. She didn't mean to snap at him but this was not how she wanted to spend her night.

Without hesitating, he sat down next to her. It wasn't a large desk and she wasn't thrilled about sharing it, but she tried to let it go. 'This is better.'

'I'm glad. How long are we going to be here?'

'Oh, probably all night. Once it's morning we can pound on the doors and make a fuss until someone lets us out.'

'Can't we do that now?'

'Well we could but what would be the point? It's less likely that someone will hear us at this time of night.'

She was too tired to argue and leaned her head against his shoulder, yawning. 'Night Chin.'

'Goodnight, Clara,' he said, leaning his head against hers.

They both fell asleep and woke up to light streaming through the small windows along the ceiling. Clara felt very sore, and she could only imagine how the Doctor felt with his long, awkward limbs.

'Good morning, sleep well?' he asked.

'I slept fine, but I feel terrible now.'

'Me too. Well, let's get out of here.'

Clara hopped off the desk and pounded on the door. It swung open. Slowly, she turned to look at the Doctor.

'Ah. I guess on the inside is when you push to open.'

She put her hands on her hips.

'Not my fault! When the TARDIS was a woman she told me that it's supposed to be pull to open!'

'From the _outside_.'

'Yes, well, I wasn't thinking, was I?'

A few people gave them odd looks as they came out of the box. It took them a whole hour before they found the real TARDIS.

'This is really her this time, Clara.'

'You're sure?'

'Yes.'

'Properly sure?'

'_YES!'_

'Why don't you go in first, just in case?'

He gave her a patronising look and then pushed on the door. It didn't open and he looked confused.

Clara sighed deeply, stepped forward, and pulled on the handle, opening the door. She wasn't ever going to let him live this down.


End file.
